liberty university graduate school purging the new …

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LIBERTY UNIVERSITY

GRADUATE SCHOOL

PURGING THE NEW AGE:

A THEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE USE OF NEW AGE PRACTICES BY THE CHURCH

A DISSERTATION Submitted to the

DOCTORAL DEGREES DISSERTATION COMMITTEE

of Rawlings School of Divinity at Liberty University

in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the Degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THEOLOGY AND APOLOGETICS

By

Chris Berg

Lynchburg, Virginia

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RAWLINGS SCHOOL OF DIVINITY AT LIBERTY UNIVERSIRTY

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

IN THEOLOGY AND APOLOGETICS

The undersigned certify that they have read and recommend to the Doctoral Degree

Committee of Rawlings School of Divinity at Liberty University for acceptance, a Dissertation

entitled Purging the New Age: A Theological Analysis of the Use of New Age Practices by the

Church, presented by Chris Berg in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy in Theology and Apologetics.

Committee Members:

Chair: Dr. Ronnie Campbell

Signature:_________________________________

Reader #1: Dr. Kevin King

Signature:_________________________________

Reader #2: Dr. Robert Talley

Signature:_________________________________

Date: May 1, 2021

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DEDICATION

I wish to dedicate my dissertation to all those who have experienced personal loss or

persecution for resisting false doctrine and refusing to engage or permit the practice of

syncretistic spiritualism. It is one thing to stand for the truth in the face of the world’s religions,

but quite another to stand for the truth against those one considers to be fellow brothers and

sisters in Christ. May we all hold fast to the Word of God as given in Scripture and reject

syncretizing with the world’s wisdom, which can only lead to the destruction of our souls.

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ABSTRACT

This dissertation sets out to demonstrate that Yoga and the Enneagram are not compatible

with orthodox Christianity. Additionally, this dissertation will show that all possible attempts at

Christianizing these practices ultimately fail due to incompatible underlying philosophies and

theologies. In order to accomplish this task, assessment criteria will be developed through a

comparison of a subset of evangelical Christian theological topics with their New Age

counterparts. These criteria will be used to assess the level of syncretization in each practice as

presented by the most popular and prolific Christian practitioners. After assessment, a

recommendation will be given concerning each practice’s use in the church. For future study, the

criteria developed through this dissertation will be able to be used by others to discern New Age

syncretization in any practice under examination.

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Copyright © 2021. Christopher Michael Berg. All rights reserved.

Liberty University has permission to reproduce and disseminate this document in any form by any

means for purposes chosen by the University, including, without limitation, preservation or

instruction.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First, I would like to thank my wife, Anna Berg, for the support she has shown me

throughout my years in graduate school. She has been invaluable as both an editor and as a

sounding board for my ideas. I could not have done this without her. Second, I would like to

thank my parents, Gordon and Sue Berg, for their continual support throughout my life and

without whom my graduate studies would not have been possible. Third, I would like to thank

Dr. Ronnie Campbell for taking the chance on chairing a potentially controversial dissertation.

His guidance has proved invaluable in my study of the New Age Movement. Fourth, I would like

to thank Dr. Kevin King for his deep devotion to orthodox doctrine, his strict adherence to proper

exegesis and hermeneutics, and his defense of divine revelation. Fifth, I would like to thank Dr.

Robert Talley for his dedication to apologetics, the purity of divine revelation, and his desire to

see the church operate along scriptural lines.

This dissertation would not have been possible without the financial support and

encouragement of those who have been part of my ministry team for the last-two-and-a-half

years. I would like to thank my wife’s parents, Tom and Denise Marin, Joe and Brandi

Mendenhall, Walt and Terri Mendenhall, Brian Miller, Luke and Marty Oltmans, Jason and

Gemma Jones, Ben Schwabauer, David and Tara Stremic, Brittany Patton, Ray and Karen

Parrish, Justin and Amy Thomas, Austin Gentry, Kelsey and Hannah Ostoj, Ron Britton, Molly

Bell, Bob and Barbara Stewart, Jonathan and Holly Roser, Rachel Tarwater, Amy Cadwallader,

Moriah Webster, Tom and Vaughn Walton, Matt and Jessica Jones, Will Mack, Curtis and Karen

Hrischuk, Jason Deramo, Stuart Graydon, Ben LaCorte, Roy Lewis, Anni Li, Lynn Parker,

Michael Pham, First Christian Kernersville, and Dan Magan.

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I would also like to thank my Ph.D. cohort colleagues whose bountiful discussions have

been one of the highlights of the program. Josh Parrott, Joe Easterling, Brian Chilton, Mark

Ragsdale, Billy Camp, Deanna Huff, Kevin Kroitor, Michelle Johnson, Andrew Prout, Jimmie

Evans, Sherene Khouri, Scott Reynolds, Andrew Hillaker, and Daniel Sloan.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page………………………………………………………………………………..…………i

Signatures…………………………………………………………………………………………ii

Dedication………………………………………………………………………….……………..iii

Abstract………………………………………………………………………..………………….iv

Copyright………………………………………………………………………...………………..v

Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………….……………vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................. viii

TABLES ....................................................................................................................................... xii

Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1

Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1

Research Purpose and Statement of Intent.................................................................................. 3

Research Significance ................................................................................................................. 4

History of Christianity and the New Age ................................................................................... 5

Origins of the New Age Movement ........................................................................................ 5

Infiltration of the New Age Movement into Christianity ..................................................... 13

Current Landscape of Apologetic Refutation of NAM Syncretism...................................... 30

Chapter 2: Methodology ............................................................................................................... 39

The Qualitative Paradigm ......................................................................................................... 39

Qualitative Research Design – Content Analysis ..................................................................... 39

ix

Research Procedure for Data Analysis ..................................................................................... 40

Development of Criteria ....................................................................................................... 40

Analysis of Results ............................................................................................................... 40

Assumptions .............................................................................................................................. 40

Limitations ................................................................................................................................ 41

Delimitations ............................................................................................................................. 42

Ethical Considerations .............................................................................................................. 42

Plans for Presenting the Results ................................................................................................ 42

Summary ................................................................................................................................... 43

Chapter 3: Development of Assessment Criteria for Church Practices ........................................ 44

A Comparison of Christian Theology with New Age Movement Beliefs ................................ 44

Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 44

Doctrines Concerning Divine Revelation ............................................................................. 44

Revelation Criteria ................................................................................................................ 66

Doctrines Concerning God and Creation .............................................................................. 69

God and Creation Criteria ..................................................................................................... 93

Doctrines Concerning the Nature and Purpose of Humanity ................................................ 96

The Nature and Purpose of Humanity Criteria ................................................................... 118

Doctrines Concerning Sin and Salvation ............................................................................ 120

Sin and Salvation Criteria ................................................................................................... 141

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Spirituality........................................................................................................................... 143

Authentic/Inauthentic Spirituality Criteria ......................................................................... 171

Chapter 4: Analysis of Practices ................................................................................................. 175

Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 175

Church Practice #1: Enneagram .............................................................................................. 176

Fundamentals of all Enneagram Programs ......................................................................... 176

Theological Analysis of the 9 Enneagram Types ............................................................... 191

Attempts to Christianize the Enneagram ............................................................................ 205

Assessment Criteria ............................................................................................................ 211

Analysis and Recommendation........................................................................................... 231

Church Practice #2: Yoga ....................................................................................................... 238

Fundamentals of All Yoga Forms ....................................................................................... 238

Physical and Psychological Consequences of Yoga ........................................................... 256

Attempts to Christianize Yoga ............................................................................................ 259

Christian Alternatives to Yoga............................................................................................ 278

Assessment Criteria ............................................................................................................ 281

Analysis and Recommendation........................................................................................... 301

Chapter 5: Conclusion and Further Considerations .................................................................... 310

Summary of Study .................................................................................................................. 310

Future Research Considerations ............................................................................................. 318

xi

Concluding Remarks ............................................................................................................... 319

Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 321

xii

TABLES

3.1. Revelation Criteria……………………………………………………………………….66

3.2 God and Creation Criteria………………………………………………………………..93

3.3 The Nature and Purpose of Humanity Criteria…………………………………………118

3.4 Sin and Salvation Criteria………………………………………………………………141

3.5 Authentic/Inauthentic Spirituality Criteria…………………...………………………...171

4.1 Comparison of Enneagram and Numerology…………………………………………..200

4.2 Comparison of Enneagram and Astrology……………………………………………..203

4.3 Revelation Criteria and the Enneagram……………………………….………………..211

4.4 God and Creation Criteria and the Enneagram…………………………………………215

4.5 The Nature and Purpose of Humanity Criteria and the Enneagram……………………220

4.6 Sin and Salvation Criteria and the Enneagram…………………………………………223

4.7 Spirituality Criteria and the Enneagram………………………...……………………...226

4.8 Summary of the Enneagram Criteria Assessment……………………………………...237

4.9 Revelation Criteria and Yoga…………………………………………………………..281

4.10 God and Creation Criteria and Yoga…………………………………………………...285

4.11 The Nature and Purpose of Humanity Criteria and Yoga………………………………289

4.12 Sin and Salvation Criteria and Yoga……………………………………………………292

4.13 Spirituality Criteria and Yoga……………………………………...…………………...296

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4.14 Summary of Yoga Assessment Criteria………………………………………………...308

1

“For how comes it that we are carried about with so many strange doctrines [Heb. 13:9] but

because the excellence of Christ is not perceived by us? For Christ alone makes all other things

suddenly vanish.1

John Calvin

“It would not be an easy matter duly to estimate the ensnaring influences of such objects, or the

immense difficulty of throwing them overboard.”2

C. H. Mackintosh – Concerning extrabiblical activities

Chapter 1: Introduction

Introduction

“For if a person comes and preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or you

receive a different spirit, which you had not received, or a different gospel, which you had not

accepted, you put up with it splendidly!”3 Of all of Paul’s warnings, the injunction against the

reception of a different Jesus and a different Gospel is one of the most pertinent for the American

Church. A 2008 study of 2,500 church attenders revealed that only 48 percent of them read the

Bible once a week or more, and only 35 percent conduct in-depth study of the Bible in the same

time frame.4 This trend has resulted in the juvenilization of the average church attender and is

reinforced by churches that have come to view “the religious beliefs, practices, and

1 John Calvin, Commentary on Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker,

1993), 97.

2 C. H. Mackintosh, The Bible: Its Sufficiency and Supremacy (www.book-ministry.com, n.d.), Kindle, 67.

3 1 Corinthians 11:4 (HCSB).

4 Brad Waggoner, The Shape of Faith to Come: Spiritual Formation and the Future of Discipleship

(Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2008), Kindle, 1001.

2

developmental characteristics of adolescents . . . as appropriate for Christians of all ages.”5 The

combination of a lack of Bible knowledge and inadequate, juvenile theological training has left

the average Christian highly susceptible to syncretistic engagement with beliefs and practices

that are antithetical to the gospel.

As the average modern-day Christian has neglected to go to Scripture and doctrine to

answer life’s most fundamental questions, a number of New Age practices have risen to fill the

void. First, in the area of fitness, Hindu yoga has been given a Christian facelift and promoted as

a tool to “pursue unity of body, mind, and His Holy Spirit… with the intent of worshiping and

serving Christ with our entire beings.”6 Second, concerning personal identity, Christians are

increasingly looking to sources outside of the Bible to define themselves. As a result, personality

tools like the Enneagram have spread rapidly throughout Christian churches.7 Unfortunately, in

addition to telling people their identity, the Enneagram also promotes itself as the “nine ways we

can find our way back to God.”8 These are only a few of the ways the New Age Movement

(NAM) has infiltrated the Christian Church.

For instance, a 2009 Pew Research study found that 20% of American Protestants

affirmed belief in reincarnation, 18% affirmed belief in Yoga, 20% affirmed belief in spiritual

5 Thomas Bergler, The Juvenilization of American Christianity (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans

Publishing Company, 2012), Kindle, 80.

6 Brooke Boon, Holy Yoga: Exercise for the Christian Body and Soul (New York City, NY: Hachette Book

Group, 2007), Kindle, 185.

7 Joe Carter, “The FAQs: What Christians Should Know About the Enneagram,” August 8, 2018, accessed

October 6, 2019, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-faqs-what-christians-should-know-about-the-

enneagram/.

8 Christopher Heuertz, The Sacred Enneagram: Finding Your Unique Path to Spiritual Growth (Grand

Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017), Kindle, 37.

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energy, and 21% affirmed belief in astrology.9 As will be demonstrated later in this dissertation,

the acceptance of these New Age doctrines stems from a direct attack on traditional hermeneutics

and orthodox interpretations of Scripture. Some parishioners see traditional orthodoxy as “worn

out” and argue that most evangelicals are “bored with what their tradition offers.”10 In an update

to the previous study, a 2017 Pew Research poll showed that belief in reincarnation had

increased by 6%, belief in spiritual energy had increased by 12%, and belief in astrology had

increased by 3% in an 8 year time frame.11 As the NAM continues to make ground, biblical and

theological arguments will continue to have less of an effect in the evangelical world. This is

evidenced by the staggering statistic that by 2017, 38% of American Protestants believed that

psychics are a valid source of spiritual knowledge.12 Due to the increasing level of syncretism

among American Christians, it is pertinent to develop methods by which to protect the Church

against further syncretization and reverse these unorthodox trends.

Research Purpose and Statement of Intent

The purpose of this study will be to develop and apply a theological assessment tool to

assess New Age syncretism in the following activities used at churches: (1) Enneagram, and (2)

yoga. The development of the theological assessment criteria will be conducted in chapter 3. In

order to appeal to as wide an audience as possible while maintaining biblical orthodoxy, this

9 “Many Americans Mix Multiple Faiths,” Pew Research Center, December 9, 2009, accessed March 18,

2020, https://www.pewforum.org/2009/12/09/many-americans-mix-multiple-faiths/.

10 “What Is the ‘Enneagram,’ and Why Are Christians Suddenly so Enamored by It?,” Religion News

Service, July 15, 2017, accessed March 18, 2020, https://religionnews.com/2017/09/05/what-is-the-enneagram-and-

why-are-christians-suddenly-so-enamored-by-it/.

11 Claire Gecewicz, “‘New Age’ Beliefs Common Among Both Religious and Nonreligious Americans,”

Fact Tank News in the Numbers, October 1, 2018, accessed January 20, 2021, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-

tank/2018/10/01/new-age-beliefs-common-among-both-religious-and-nonreligious-americans/.

12 Ibid.

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dissertation will draft criteria based on a broadly evangelical theology defended through the use

of Scripture. Additionally, historical theology and theological tenets from other denominations

and branches of Christianity will be discussed and included in order to demonstrate that though

they may seem to show solidarity with NAM teachings, they in fact do not. The result will be a

set of criteria that clearly demonstrates the differences between broadly evangelical, orthodox

Christian belief and New Age teachings and can easily be applied to the task of discerning

whether syncretism is present in a Christian practice.

In chapter 4, the criteria developed in chapter 3 will be applied to the practices of the

Enneagram and yoga as they have been utilized by Christian leaders. For each practice, the core

theology and practical elements will be assessed, followed by an examination of how those

practices have been utilized in the church and changed to make them acceptable to the average

churchgoer. This general assessment will then be used in conjunction with the theological criteria

to examine whether or not the practice shows signs of syncretism.

Research Significance

This project has the potential to have a major impact on the American Church at large.

First, there is a substantial level of interest in the topic of what are to be considered valid church

practices.13 This information could easily be distilled down to the popular level and taught at

churches as both a refresher to orthodox Christianity and as an introduction to inoculate members

against New Age syncretism. The heavy emphasis on Scripture would also have the impact of

13 Apologia Ministries has recently released a number podcasts on this topic through their podcasts

“Cultish” and “Sheologians.” Second, Steven Bancarz and Josh Peck have recently written a popular book

addressing this topic and are currently on circuit promoting it. Third, a number of churches have personally reached

out to the author to request the dissertation when it is completed and for the author to conduct seminars for their

churches.

5

rekindling Christians’ love for the Bible. It is possible that this material could also continue to

generate awareness about this problem in the eldership and pastoral levels of the church.

From a research perspective, this project would serve as a call to conduct further research

into the areas of cults, Christian syncretization, and contemporary theological application. The

dissertation will not be able to cover every practice nor apply every aspect of systematic

theology and the author welcomes all future interest in this topic and encourage more researchers

to apply their talents to this bourgeoning field.

Third, this research serves the ultimate purpose of glorifying God through the

clarification of theological statements and the purifying of the Body of Christ from anti-

Scriptural practices. These two goals cannot be understated as Scripture commends any action

that constitutes “the bride mak[ing] herself ready.”14 Thus, this dissertation has significance at

the theological, practical, and eschatological levels. The following sections in this chapter will

provide the necessary background information about the history of Christianity and the New Age

Movement as it pertains to syncretism along with a brief review of pertinent literature.

History of Christianity and the New Age

Origins of the New Age Movement

The New Age Movement is comprised of a variety of sub-movements, including New

Thought, that share “common assumptions and a common vision” and draw on the full gamut of

philosophies and beliefs that humanity has contrived over the last 4,000 years.15 New Age

leaders have incorporated Gnosticism, Neoplatonism, hermeticism, alchemy, and pagan

14 Revelation 19:7.

15 John Newport, The New Age Movement and the Biblical Worldview: Conflict and Dialogue (Grand

Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998), 2.

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polytheistic Spiritualism in an attempt to address the “failures” of most modern institutions. New

Age Movement leaders seek to overturn the Judeo-Christian worldview, to “leave the prison of

our conditioning,” and usher in the Aquarian (utopian) age.16 For example, New Age writer

Matthew Fox denigrates orthodox hamartiology and soteriology in favor of the New Age

understanding of blessing, saying, “fall/redemption theology has ignored the blessing that

creation is because of its anthropomorphic preoccupation with sin! The result has been among

other things, the loss of pleasure of spirituality, and with this loss the increase of pain, of

injustice, of sado-masochism, and of distrust.”17 In order to understand why a belief system that

stands diametrically opposed to the Bible is so popular among Christians today, it is necessary to

uncover what circumstances originally drove people to accept these beliefs.

This section will uncover the historical and cultural “soil” that gave rise to New Age

organizations. First, 20th century culture and history will be examined to determine the primary

triggers that led to the development of New Age thinking. Second, a stream of thinking related to

the NAM called “New Thought” will be traced from its origins to its institutionalization in

various religious organizations. By understanding the New Age Movement from a historical and

cultural perspective, it will be possible to determine how NAM practices and ideology infiltrated

the American Church.

New Age Movement

One of the major contributors to the rise of the New Age Movement was the stark reality

of the failure of humanity to preserve life. New Age leaders characterized the 20th century as the

16 Marilyn Ferguson, The Aquarian Conspiracy: Personal and Social Transformation in Our Time (New

York City, NY: Penguin Group, 1980), 463.

17 Matthew Fox, O.P., Original Blessing (Santa Fe, NM: Bear & Company, 1983), 46.

7

greatest “Black Moment” in Earth’s history.18 On the global level, the 20th century saw over 2.55

billion people die due to starvation.19 Through the advent of film, people watched in horror as

108 million people lost their lives to war.20 Disease, unhealthy environments, and poor general

health topped the major causes of death for the century, prematurely ending the lives of

approximately 5.438 billion people.21 Additionally, on the individual level, over the course of the

20th century, there had been “a sharp rise in anxiety, depression, and mental health issues”

among young people, which continued to get worse as time progressed.22 In response to these

issues, New Age specialist Marilyn Ferguson investigated a loose but rapidly development

network of people including “politicians, stewards of corporate or private wealth, celebrities,

professionals trying to change their professions, and ‘ordinary’ people” who were assembling as

“conspirators” intending to “change social institutions, modes of problem solving, and

distribution of power.”23 Similarly, Christian apologist, Wouter Hanegraff also affirmed that

New Age adherents were bound together by the idea that “collectivism, patriarchy, intolerance,

[and] authoritarianism” had failed to bring about the Aquarian Age and needed to be replaced.24

In his analysis of the history of spiritual but unchurched Americans, Fuller argues that those who

18 Ferguson, The Aquarian Conspiracy, 24.

19 Joe Hasell and Max Roser, Famines (Our World in Data, December 7, 2017), accessed March 23, 2020,

https://ourworldindata.org/famines.

20 Chris Hedges, “What Every Person Should Know About War” (New York City, NY, July 6, 2003),

National Edition edition, accessed March 23, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/06/books/chapters/what-

every-person-should-know-about-war.html.

21 20th Century Death, Infographic (Information Is Beautiful, n.d.), accessed March 23, 2020,

https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/20th-century-death/.

22 Jean Twenge, “Generational Differences in Mental Health: Are Children and Adolescents Suffering

More, or Less?,” American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 81, no. 4 (2011): 469–472.

23 Ferguson, The Aquarian Conspiracy: Personal and Social Transformation in Our Time, xxiv.

24 Wouter Hanegraaff, New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular

Thought (New York City, NY: E. J. Brill, 1996), 320.

8

engaged with NAM theology found a way to bring “together the elements of life ripped apart by

Western civilization” and heal “the social and ecological damage created by ‘old age’

consciousness.”25

A second key factor that led to the rise of the NAM was the Vietnam War, which

“catalyzed the conflict of the sixties,” leading to the popularization of a variety of independent,

anti-establishment, and counter-cultural movements, like the sexual revolution, psychedelic drug

groups, and the civil rights movement.26 In Daniel Bell’s thorough analysis of the Vietnam War’s

impact on American society, he concluded that the war was “perceived as morally ambiguous, if

not dubious, by a large portion, perhaps the majority of the population.”27 Additionally, he found

that one of the major results of the war was “an estrangement of a large section of the future elite

from the society,” and that it was the “single most direct source of alienation” for young

people.28 Due to the breakdown of belief and authority in governing institutions, people sought

alternative communities and voices to define ethics and morality, which included “religious

movements” that resolved the counter culture crises of the 60s.29 Religion historian, Hugh Urban

argues that “the 1960’s and ‘70s witnessed the most rapid growth of New Age spirituality” due

to ideologies and groups like “feminism,” “the sexual revolution,” and “anti-Vietnam War

25 Robert C. Fuller, Spiritual but Not Religious: Understanding Unchurched America (New York City, NY:

Oxford University Press, 2001), 63.

26 Steven Tipton, Getting Saved from the Sixties: Moral Meaning in Conversion and Cultural Change

(Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2014), 28.

27 Daniel Bell, The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism (New York City, NY: Basic Books, 1997), 190.

28 Ibid, 191.

29 Tipton, Getting Saved from the Sixties: Moral Meaning in Conversion and Cultural Change, xvi.

9

protests.”30 Through the combination of mistrust toward the government and a steady diet of

teaching that spoke of finding “inner truth,” many people found “a hybrid paradise” of Eastern

mysticism and American psychology.31 Thus, the New Age Movement provided a way to

distance oneself from the harsh realities and power struggles that dominated public life, while at

the same time providing meaning and purpose to one’s life.

A third major factor that allowed the fledgling movement to grow quickly and permeate

society was the passing of the Hart-Celler Act of 1965. This legislation loosened quotas and saw

immigration from Southeast Asia “quadruple” from 1965 to 1970.32 As one of the major

contributors to the globalization of America, the Hart-Celler Act of 1965 allowed for the

importation of Eastern philosophy. For example, the International Society for Krishna

Consciousness (Hare Krishna) started during this time, as well as “various new forms of

Buddhism.”33 The subjectivity of these philosophies was quickly adopted by New Age

organizations as it allowed them to redefine morality along their counter-cultural lines. The

Vietnam War, general disillusionment with Christianity and the American government, and the

influx of Eastern spirituality were perfectly timed to attract the maximal number of people to the

fledgling New Age Movement.34

30 Hugh Urban, New Age, Neopagan, and New Religious Movements: Alternative Spirituality in

Contemporary America (Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 2015), 15.

31 Gregg Lahood, “Relational Spirituality, Part 1 Paradise Unbound: Cosmic Hybridity and Spiritual

Narcissism in the ‘One Truth’ of New Age Transpersonalism,” International Journal of Transpersonal Studies 29,

no. 1 (2010): 33.

32 “U.S. Immigration Since 1965,” History, June 7, 2019, accessed March 23, 2020,

https://www.history.com/topics/immigration/us-immigration-since-1965.

33 Urban, New Age, Neopagan, and New Religious Movements: Alternative Spirituality in Contemporary

America, 15.

34 Ibid.

10

Finally, the New Age Movement could not have occurred without the deconstruction of

modernism, followed by the rise of the postmodern worldview. Postmodernity fundamentally

restructured the way people form worldviews and take in information. In the modernist

framework, people held a shared meta-narrative established by an authority or institution. New

information was then judged and assessed through that lens. However, as communication

technology increased and mistrust of authority spread, people became disillusioned with

institutions and the meta-narratives they produced. With its emphasis on personal, subjective

truth, the NAM was positioned to capitalize on the desire to create reality through the “self-

selection” of information.35 With the American people disillusioned with their government,

rejecting institutions, tired of war, and oversaturated with death, the New Age Movement truly

seemed like an inner light coming into the world.

New Thought

Separate from the traditional strands of the New Age Movement, another New Age

philosophy began to develop in the mid-1800s through a man named Phineas Parkhurst

Quimby.36 After becoming disenchanted with mesmerism, Quimby developed a “spiritual

science” by blending Christian teachings with “scientifically demonstrable mind healing.”37

Quimby’s system, called “New Thought” rejected the standard doctrines of Christianity and all

forms of high Christology.38 He redefined religion, so that “to believe profoundly in the

35 Michael York, “Review Article: New Age and the Late Twentieth Century,” Journal of Contemporary

Religion 12, no. 3 (1997): 414.

36 Newport, The New Age Movement and the Biblical Worldview: Conflict and Dialogue, 29.

37 Ibid. Mesmerism is commonly known as hypnosis and was developed by Anton Mesmer in the late

1700’s.

38 Horatio Dresser, “Chapter 1: Biographical Sketch,” in The Quimby Manuscripts (New York, NY:

Thomas Y Crowell, 1921), accessed March 27, 2020, http://www.ppquimby.com/hdresser/chapt1.htm.

11

indwelling presence of God as love and wisdom… [and] to realize its reality vividly in the

practice of spiritual healing” is the paradigm of faith.39 The fundamental premise of his healing

system is to realize that one’s beliefs are the only things that keep one ill.40 By holding beliefs

contrary to the reports of doctors, he argued that it was possible for the mind to heal the physical

body.41

Though Quimby never gained a large following, he passed on his teachings to key

students, one of whom founded a fully functioning church based on the principles of New

Thought mixed with eisegetical interpretations of Scripture. Mary Baker Eddy was one of

Quimby’s patients in 1862 and, after receiving healing, she merged her understanding of the

Bible with Quimby’s healing techniques, founding the Church of Christian Science.42 The church

was syncretistic with Christianity, but only on a superficial level, using “the standard terms of

Christian orthodoxy,” but completely re-writing them on a metaphysical level.43 For instance, in

her seminal work, Science and Health, Eddy utilized Trinitarian language, but in the same

sentence also stated that “Jesus of Nazareth taught and demonstrated man’s oneness with the

Father,” which is a monistic/pantheistic view of divinity.44 Though it attempted to find a place in

39 Horatio Dresser, “Chapter 1: Biographical Sketch.”

40 Julius Dresser, “The True History of Mental Science: A Lecture Delivered at the Church of the Divine

Unity, Boston, Mass., on Sunday Evening, Feb. 6, 1887” (Presented at the The Church of the Divine Unity, Boston,

MA, February 6, 1887), accessed March 27, 2020, https://www.ppquimby.com/jdresser/jdresser.htm.

41 Ibid.

42 Dawn Hutchinson, “New Thought’s Prosperity Theology and Its Influence on American Ideas of

Success,” Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 18, no. 2 (2014): 29.

43 James Beverley A., Nelson’s Illustrated Guide to Religions: A Comprehensive Introduction to the

Religions of the World (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2009), Kindle, 1754.

44 Mary Baker Eddy, “Chapter 2: Atonement and Eucharist,” in Science and Health (Christian Science,

n.d.), accessed March 27, 2020, https://www.christianscience.com/the-christian-science-pastor/science-and-

health/chapter-ii-atonement-and-eucharist?citation=SH%2025:3-25:12.

12

mainstream Christianity, Christian Science was never able to receive universal acceptance into

Christendom due to its fundamental rejection of central doctrines.

One of Mary Baker Eddy’s students, Emma Curtis Hopkins, had a “falling out” with her

and crystalized the dominant “New Thought” philosophy, which coupled positive thinking with

success and prosperity as well as physical health.45 As a result of her teachings, many “New

Thought” organizations and publishers were formed, such as the International New Thought

Alliance and the Unity School of Christianity, which taught that “God is Mind,” and that because

people are “one with God,” they “cannot be poor, because God cannot be poor.”46 This

prosperity philosophy became the basis for a variety of “New Thought” books and organizations

that trained people how to manipulate the world through the power of thought.

One instance of this doctrine came from New Age teacher William Atkinson. He merged

positive thinking with pseudoscientific principles concerning brain wave vibrations to form the

basis of his theory on how mental thoughts can manipulate the physical world.47 In his book,

Atkinson argued that “you must get in love with the thing you want,” in order for reality to

manifest it in your presence.48 In this way, nothing is too good for the thinker, nor is anything

impossible for the person who loves the deepest. These ideas have repeatedly resurfaced, the

most well-known instance being Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret, which brought “New Thought”

into the mainstream. In general, “New Thought” has had an easy time being accepted and


46 Hutchinson, “New Thought’s Prosperity Theology and Its Influence on American Ideas of Success,” 31.

47 William Walker Atkinson, Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World (Overland

Park, KS: Digireads.com Publishing, 2009), 5.

48 Ibid, 61.

13

incorporated into American life. As a result, both the New Age Movement and “New Thought”

have also found a home in American churches at large, and especially in the Pentecostal and

Charismatic movements.

Infiltration of the New Age Movement into Christianity

As the following section will demonstrate, the New Age movement penetrated

Christianity at distinct times and often through calculated methods, such as New Age meditation

and New Age music.49 Rarely was this syncretization wholesale. Often, it occurred as an

adoption of new doctrine to fit the specific needs of American churchgoers, though over time,

New Age philosophy began to corrupt orthodox doctrine. One thing is common to all instances

of New Age syncretization: the rejection of the evangelical, orthodox doctrine of bibliology. In

every instance, the sufficiency of Scripture is denied, and truth is sought from sources other than

the Bible. Additionally, syncretization requires either the rejection of the Old Testament as

useful or a hermeneutic that spiritualizes or allegorizes the biblical text. Finally, for the purposes

of this book, syncretization does not necessitate that the doctrine itself came from a New Age

source, nor that it was accepted in its entirety. Rather, syncretization means that the revised

Christian doctrine now resembles a New Age tenet in some way. The following section will trace

the origins of New Age syncretism into the church, leading into the current climate of American

churches.

Mainline Denominations

Mainline denominations such as Methodists, Presbyterians, Catholics, and Episcopalians

have seen a dramatic shift in the beliefs held by their congregants as New Age philosophy has

49 Heath Henning, Crept in Unawares: Mysticism (Truth Watchers Publishers, 2019), 102-156.

14

infiltrated mainstream America. For instance, as of December 2017, 67% of mainline American

Protestants affirm at least one of the following: spiritual energy, psychics, reincarnation, or

astrology.50 Similarly, 70% of American Catholics affirm at least one of these New Age

beliefs.51 Dr. John Killinger, who served as a pastor in Baptist, Presbyterian, and Congregational

churches, articulates the core of this new Christianity saying that salvation is “self-realization”

and “self-fulfillment,” which are concerned with “being so well integrated as a self” that one can

be in “a kind of heaven” in “this highly imperfect world.”52 This New Age understanding of

salvation manifests itself as a significant increase in religious pluralism; a 2014 Pew Research

study found that 80 percent of mainline American churchgoers believe that “many religions can

lead to eternal life.”53 In Protestant Christianity, the Bible has been so denigrated that, according

to a Gallup poll, only 35 percent of churchgoers believe that it is the actual word of God and only

51 percent would agree that it is in some way inspired by God.54 This new type of “Christian” no

longer has confidence in “the church or organized religion.”55 Instead, individually-defined

50 Gecewicz, “‘New Age’ Beliefs Common Among Both Religious and Nonreligious Americans.”

51 Ibid.

52 John Killinger, The Changing Shape of Our Salvation (New York City, NY: Crossroad Publishing

Company, 2007), n. p.

53 Pew Research Center, “US Public Becoming Less Religious,” Religion and Public Life, November 3,

2015, accessed January 21, 2021, https://www.pewforum.org/2015/11/03/chapter-1-importance-of-religion-and-

religious-beliefs/#paths-to-eternal-life.

54 Lydia Saad, “Record Few Americans Believe Bible Is Literal Word of God,” Social and Policy Issues,

May 15, 2017, accessed October 13, 2020, https://news.gallup.com/poll/210704/record-few-americans-believe-

bible-literal-word-god.aspx.

55 Justin McCarthy, “U.S. Confidence in Organized Religion Remains Low,” Politics, July 8, 2019,

accessed October 13, 2020, https://news.gallup.com/poll/259964/confidence-organized-religion-remains-low.aspx.

This Gallup poll reports that those having a “great deal” of confidence in the church has dropped from a high of 68%

in the late 70s to 36% in 2019.

15

spirituality reigns and religion is cast away as an outmoded, dead practice.56 For these

churchgoers, the Bible becomes one voice among many, and truth about the self is sought from a

variety of pseudo-spiritual sources.57 Typically, Christians that syncretize with New Age

thinking tend to focus on “self-improvement in the here and now,” as opposed to eternal life or

salvific concerns.58 Dr. Christian Smith characterizes this new form of American Christianity as

“Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” (MTD).59 Though churchgoers who hold to this view do not

explicitly align with the New Age Movement, their worldview elements concerned with God are

distinctly New Age. For example, Smith records a MTD student saying, “God is a spirit that

grants you anything you want, but not anything bad,” which reflects the New Age belief in the

primary goodness of the spiritual world, the law of attraction, and the impersonality of God.60

The New Age Movement has also infiltrated Christianity through the adoption of various

practices that have traditionally been associated with paganism, Spiritualism, Hinduism, and

Buddhism. For instance, in an attempt to deepen their spirituality, Christians of all

denominations have flocked to yoga. At Wheaton College, Christian Yoga is a class that students

can take through the athletics department.61 Though many believe that yoga cannot be detached

from demonic worship and Hinduism, many Christians report that yoga allows them to worship

56 Paul Heelas, The New Age Movement: The Celebration of Self and the Sacralization of Modernity

(Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 1996), 164-165.


58 Ibid.

59 Christian Smith, “Chapter 5: On ‘Moralistic Therapeutic Deism’ as US Teenagers’ Actual, Tacit, De

Facto Religious Faith,” in Religion and Youth, ed. Sylvia Collins-Mayo and Pink Dandelion, BSA Sociology of

Religion Study Group Series (Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2010), 41.

60 Ibid, 43.

61 Candy Gunther Brown, “Christian Yoga: Something New Under the Sun/Son?,” Church History 87, no.

3 (September 2018): 660.

16

God “with their whole body” in a way that “overly intellectual, uninteresting, or body-denying”

orthodox doctrines do not.62

Another suite of New Age practices that have made their way into the church are related

to personality typing. In the 1960's, Claudio Naranjo utilized the teachings of Oscar Ichazo, and

with the help of automatic writing, came up with the basic version of the occultic personality

typing system called the Enneagram.63 From there, it quickly spread into Catholic seminaries,

where many fell under its influence.64 Though it died down in the following years, recently it has

made a major resurgence in Charismatic churches, non-denominational churches, and in pop-

Christian circles. For instance, a 2018 article from Relevant Magazine describes how the

Enneagram is making its way into evangelical churches. The interviewee states that she and her

husband run a church-sponsored Enneagram class to assist in the process of “bringing what we

know of the Enneagram” into the lives of Christians with a “more traditional, Gospel-centered

perspective.”65 Additionally, evangelical publication companies have recognized the growing

trend and both InterVarsity Press and Zondervan have published immensely popular books on

the Enneagram that are targeted at the average evangelical churchgoer.66

62 Brown, "Christian Yoga," 669.

63 Mitch Pacwa, Catholics and the New Age: How Good People Are Being Drawn into Jungian Psychology,

the Enneagram, and the Age of Aquarius (Ann Arbor, MI: Servant Publications, 1992), 114; Marcia Montenegro,

The Origins of the Enneagram, Popular Gospel, 2019, accessed January 29, 2021, https://youtu.be/k9Jo90cl7Io.

64 Ibid, 117-118.

65 Tyler Huckabee, “The Rise of the Enneagram,” Relevant Magazine, January 1, 2018, accessed March 28,

2020, https://relevantmagazine.com/culture/the-rise-of-the-enneagram/.

66 Rand Grey, “The Enneagram: Good, Evil or Popular,” Medium, September 21, 2018, accessed March 28,

2020, https://medium.com/@randgrey/the-enneagram-good-evil-or-popular-a7722681d445.

17

Another substantial supporter of the Enneagram and heterodox doctrine is Catholic

Franciscan monk, Richard Rohr, OFM. His focus is on redefining Christ through syncretizing

with the New Age concept of Christ Consciousness. In his book, The Universal Christ, he argues

that Christ “was clearly not just Jesus of Nazareth, but something much more immense, even

cosmic… [and] this vision has the power to radically alter what we believe.”67 For Rohr, Christ

is the presence of God that is incarnate in the entire universe. He argues that “the universe is the

Body of God, both in its essence and in its suffering,” and that Christ is “beyond gender.”68 Rohr

explicitly denies the standard Creator/Creation distinction, asserting that “God loves things by

becoming them.”69 He also derides the gospel saying people “will have long discarded the notion

of Christian salvation as a private evacuation plan that gets a select few humans into the next

world;” rather, Rohr affirms universalism whereby everyone will be saved.70 Later on in his

book, he denies the doctrine of original sin and, instead, accepts “the inherent goodness of

human nature.”71 Rohr's understanding of Christianity is uniquely his own, as he draws on New

Age movement theology infused with Christian language and tradition. For instance, he is

theologically committed to panentheism, a works-based universal salvation through spiritual

contemplation to gain hidden knowledge, and that humans are essentially good and have a divine

nature.72

67 Richard Rohr, The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope

for, and Believe (New York City, NY: Convergent, 2019), Kindle, 96.

68 Ibid, Kindle, 1713, 1895.

69 Rohr, The Universal Christ, Kindle, 260.

70 Ibid, Kindle, 708.



18

The Charismatic Movement.

The Pentecostal and Charismatic Church’s history with the NAM is extensive with many

interconnected incursions. This section will examine a few of the major events that led to

dramatic shifts toward New Age thinking and practice. The seeds for a syncretistic style of

Christianity were sown at the very beginning of the Charismatic Movement. The Holiness

Church, which led into modern day Pentecostalism, held that “physical healing for the body was

provided ‘in the atonement’ along with salvation for the soul.”73 The pressure to guarantee

physical healing and other signs and wonders cultivated the temptation to look outside of

Scripture and the Christian Church to secure new miracles as contemporary ministries dried up.

In accordance with Holiness theology, one of the founders of Pentecostalism, Charles

Parham, held that “physical healing is the Christian’s birthright” and conducted a “restless

search” for healing power among unorthodox ministries and organizations.74 This set a precedent

for later ministries. Additionally, Parham cultivated the concept of two tiers of Christians and

taught that only “those who received the latter rain baptism would form the Bride of Christ.”75

The division of Christians into those who were empowered versus those who were not would

later develop into the theology that being gifted spiritually meant that a person had a special

relationship with God and could receive new revelation. Though his movement remained small

throughout his life, Parham’s Houston Bible School was instrumental in the education of

William J. Seymour—who, in 1906, started the worldwide Pentecostal movement through the

73 Vinson Synan, The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition: Charismatic Movements in the Twentieth Century

(Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997), Kindle, 875.

74 David Cloud, The Pentecostal-Charismatic Movements: The History & The Error, 4th ed. (Port Huron,

MI: Way of Life Literature, 2011), Kindle, 562.

75 Cloud, The Pentecostal-Charismatic Movements, Kindle, 604.

19

Azusa Street Revival.76 Thus, the foundation of the Pentecostal Church included experientially-

driven pragmatism.

In the 1940s and 1950s, the Pentecostal Church entered into a period of dramatic growth

through a series of healing evangelists.77 The key leader and “primary source of inspiration” for

many healing and revivalist meetings was William Branham.78 Branham’s theology and practice

are the foundation for most modern New Age incursions into the American Church. For instance,

he asserted that the Bible was merely one source of revelation among many. In his message

entitled “The Pillar of Fire,” he stated that “God wrote three Bibles: one, the Zodiac, one in the

pyramids, one on paper.”79 In his teachings, he utilized these other streams of revelation by

connecting them allegorically to biblical stories.80 Additionally, Branham popularized angelic

encounters. In the angelic encounter that was foundational to his ministry, Branham was visited

by a being who told him that he was “sent from the presence of the Almighty God to tell you

[Branham] that your peculiar life and your misunderstood ways have been to indicate that God

has sent you to take a gift of divine healing to the people of the world.”81 The angel also affirmed

76 Synan, The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition: Charismatic Movements in the Twentieth Century, Kindle,

1124.

77 Cloud, The Pentecostal-Charismatic Movements: The History & The Error, Kindle, 1026.

78 Stanley Burgess, Gary McGee, and Patrick Alexander, eds., Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic

Movements (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1988), 372.

79 William Branham, “The Pillar of Fire” (Jonesboro, AR, n.d.), accessed March 29, 2020,

messagehub.info/en/read.do?ref_num=53-0509.

80 Ibid.

81 David Edwin Harrell Jr., All Things Are Possible: The Healing and Charismatic Revivals in Modern

America (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1978), 28.

20

that Branham “would be able to detect diseases by vibrations on his left hand.”82 With one

stroke, Branham normalized “angelic beings” who promoted New Age practices.

Branham also laid the groundwork for shifting authority away from denominations,

which he considered “the mark of the beast,” and onto individual people he calls “apostles.”83

Branham’s doctrine of “The Manifest Sons of God,” coupled with his Dominion Theology,

formed the backbone of the theological justification for the New Apostolic Reformation and

various associated modern charismatic ministries.84 In total, Branham played a substantial

theological role in the lives of “Oral Roberts, T.L. Osborn, Jack Coe, A.A. Allen, Kenneth

Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Kathryn Kuhlman, Paul Cain, Earl Paulk, Marilyn Hickey, and Benny

Hinn,” all of whom directed the course of the modern Charismatic Movement.85

The New Apostolic Reformation

Overview of the NAR. The core teaching of the New Apostolic Reformation, inherited

from William Branham and others of the Latter Rain Movement, is “the belief that apostles,

working together with prophets, must take over governance of the church—taking the reins from

pastors, elders, and denominational leaders—so that God’s end-time plans can be fulfilled and

Christ can return.”86 Though the movement originated as a collection of people coming together

82 Harrell Jr., All Things Are Possible, 28.

83 William Branham, “The Ten Virgins, and the 144,000 Jews” (Presented at the Branham Tabernacle,

Jeffersonville, IN, December 11, 1960), accessed March 29, 2020, https://churchages.net/en/sermon/branham/60-

1211M-ten-virgins-and-the-144000-Jews.

84 William Branham, “The Seven Church Ages” (presented at the Branham Tabernacle, Jeffersonville, IN,

May 12, 1954), accessed March 29, 2020, https://churchages.net/en/sermon/branham/54-0512-seven-Church-ages;

Cloud, The Pentecostal-Charismatic Movements: The History & The Error, Kindle, 1040.

85 Cloud, The Pentecostal-Charismatic Movements: The History & The Error, Kindle, 1201; Burgess,

McGee, and Alexander, Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, 372.

86 R. Douglas Geivett and Holly Pivec, A New Apostolic Reformation?: A Biblical Response to a

Worldwide Movement (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014), Kindle, 242.

21

in support of the present-day apostolic theology and mission, Peter Wagner was the primary

theological influence.87 In his ecclesiology, he affirms that apostles are the ultimate authority

under God in the Church, and both apostles and prophets receive new revelation directly from

God.88 This doctrine, coupled with prior affirmation of occultic and New Age rituals, has

allowed for a substantial influx of New Age thinking and practice into many of America’s

churches as over “66 million” people in the U.S. have been “influenced” by the NAR.89 If a

leading apostle hears from God that extra-biblical spirituality is proper for Christian engagement,

then God must endorse it, even if the Bible does not. As it turns out, this is exactly the situation

in which many NAR organizations and church groups find themselves. The following sections

will detail the origins and belief systems in the most prominent NAR organizations and how

those systems have allowed for New Age syncretization.

International House of Prayer. In addition to C. Peter Wagner, who codified the NAR

movement at the academic level, the NAR organized at the church level in Kansas City.90 Bob

Jones, Paul Cain, and John Paul Jackson were NAR Prophets who operated out of Mike Bickle’s

church, Kansas City Fellowship.91 In 1988, Mike Bickle and Bob Jones delivered an interview

entitled “Visions and Revelations,” which relates a series of supernatural events and angelic

encounters that comprise the “Prophetic History” of the IHOP-KC.92 There are several events in

87 Givett and Picec, A New Apostolic Reformation?, Kindle, 806.

88 C. Peter Wagner, Dominion!: How Kingdom Action Can Change the World (Grand Rapids, MI: Chosen,

2008), 27, 123.

89 Geivett and Pivec, A New Apostolic Reformation?: A Biblical Response to a Worldwide Movement,

Kindle, 419.

90 Geivett and Pivec, A New Apostolic Reformation?, Kindle, 298.


92 Mike Bickle and Bob Jones, “Visions and Revelations” (Kansas City, MO, Fall 1988), 20.

22

this interview that have set the stage for the incursion of a number of New Age beliefs. First,

Jones and Bickle normalize angelic and demonic encounters over and above the Word of God. In

one of his earlier encounters, Jones reports that he was reading Psalm 23 when a demon came to

him to incite him to kill people at the mental institution in which he was hospitalized.93 When he

cried out for help to Jesus, he reports that a voice said to him, “I can’t help you, Bob, until you

forgive them. Go kill them or forgive them.”94 Thus, rather than reiterating Scripture, Jesus was

claimed to have told Jones to either “kill them or forgive them.” While there is truth in

forgiveness, the coupled statement of an either/or with murder is out of line with the nature and

character of God and is likely demonic as well. However, this event and others like it have

justified the reception of revelation from non-biblical sources. This revelation often hides under

the term “prophecy.” In his magnum opus on prophecy, Bickle states that “supernatural

confirmation by acts of God in nature strengthens our faith as it provides irrefutable proof of the

specific direction that God is speaking to us.”95 In other words, prophecy, as revelation, is not

verified by checking against Scripture, but by supernatural confirmation.

Second, Jones affirms in the interview that “the Lord allowed me to know… that there

would be an end-time measure of apostolic ministry that would come out of the fruit of

intercession.”96 This affirmation, as in earlier movements like the Latter-Rain, is the justification

for the continued existence of apostles and prophets with near-unlimited authority and comes

with it the high probability of New Age syncretism. It is important to note that IHOP officially

93 Bickle and Jones, "Visions and Revelations," 6.

94 Ibid.

95 Mike Bickle, Growing in the Prophetic: A Balanced, Biblical Guide to Using and Nurturing Dreams,

Revelations and Spiritual Gifts as God Intended (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2008), Kindle, 279.


23

denies all involvement with the NAR, the giving of prophecy that is unjustified by Scripture, and

the reinstitution of the offices of the apostle and prophet.97 However, these denials are in direct

contradiction with what the founder of IHOP affirms in his widely used book on prophecy where

he validates the continued existence of “the Level IV prophetic office” which “parallel[s] the Old

Testament ministries of men like Samuel and Elijah.”98 This type of doublespeak is another

indicator of syncretization where organizations put on one face to the public due to potential

public relations issues, and then reveal their true belief system to a select group of people.

Finally, the primary way in which New Age practice has crept into IHOP is through their

use of contemplative prayer. Bickel argues that Ephesians 3:14-21 provides the backdrop for his

theology on contemplative prayer.99 One egregious error is his declaration that “the very essence

of God’s being” is love. This assertion is based on an eisegetical reading of 1 John 4:8 which

reads: “The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”100 Pillar

commentator Colin Kruse argues that the author of 1 John “is not making an ontological

statement describing what God is in essence; rather, he is…speaking about the loving nature of

God revealed in saving action on behalf of humankind.”101 Verses 9 and 10 support this thesis as

they talk about God’s love in terms of God’s action by which “He loved us and sent His Son to

97 “FAQs and Controversies (Incl. Affirmations and Denials),” International House of Prayer, n.d.,

accessed March 31, 2020, https://www.ihopkc.org/press-center/category/faq/.

98 Bickle, Growing in the Prophetic: A Balanced, Biblical Guide to Using and Nurturing Dreams,

Revelations and Spiritual Gifts as God Intended, Kindle, 555.

99 Mike Bickle, “Contemplative Prayer: Session 3 Contemplative Prayer: Drawing Near to God,” July 21,

2001, accessed March 31, 2020, http://www.mikebickle.org.edgesuite.net/MikeBickleVOD/2001/20010721-T-

Contemplative_Prayer-Drawing_Near_to_God_CTP03.pdf.

100 1 John 4:8.

101 Colin Kruse G., The Letters of John, ed. D.A. Carson, 2nd ed., The Pillar New Testament Commentary

(Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2020), 170.

24

be the propitiation for our sins.”102 Additionally, Jobes argues that for “God is love” to be

ontological, the statement would have to work in reverse “love is God” which “the syntax of the

Greek does not permit.”103

This reduction of God to love is characteristic of New Age thinking and perpetuates the

idea that as long as something is loving it is of God. For instance, Bickle presents the Holy

Spirit’s primary role as “the escort” through which Christians “feel love” from God. Thus, the

primary connection to God becomes emotion, rather than belief or faith. In agreement with the

early Holiness/Pentecostal teaching that the Holy Spirit is present when He is felt and has moved

on when the emotional experience dries up, Bickle affirms that “spiritual boredom is the enemy’s

best weapon against us,” and that “contemplative prayer” is the key to intense emotional

experience with God.104 This is another example of utilizing extra-biblical means to achieve

102 1 John 4:10.

103 Karen H. Jobes, 1, 2, and 3 John, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand

Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014), 191, quoting Robert W. Yarbrough, 1-3 John, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the

New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 273, quoting Gerard S. Sloyan, Walking in the Truth:

Perseverers and Deserters: The First, Second, and Third Letters of John (Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press

International, 1995), 45; Jobes, 1, 2 and 3 John, 191, quoting R. W. L. Moberly, “‘Test the Spirits’: God, Love, and

Critical Discernment in 1 John 4,” in The Holy Spirit and Christian Origins: Essays in Honor of James D.G. Dunn,

ed. Graham Stanton, Bruce W. Longenecker, and Stephen C. Barton (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans

Publishing Company, 2004), 305-6; Jobes, 1, 2, and 3 John, 191, quoting Bob Barber, “‘Show Bridges Heaven and

Earth,’ Profiles in Faith,” Santa Barbara News-Press, January 3, 1998. Quote is reprinted here in full: “Note that the

syntax of the Greek does not permit the terms of the statement to be reversed, as Yarbrough points out: “John does

not say that love is God, a statement found nowhere in Scripture. “There have always been some who wished to

apotheosize human love, but it cannot be done.”…[sic] To do so would be to replace a living, personal, and active

God with an intellectual, ethical, volitional, or emotional abstraction. This is the last thing that the language of 1

John, or the graphic portrayal of God incarnate in the Gospels, would permit.4” Furthermore, as Moberly points out,

“a theoretical definition of deity in terms of a supreme human quality…can give rise to Feuerbach’s potent critique

that the quality is more ultimate than the deity, and that to keep the quality, while disposing of the deity, is to hold

firm to the one thing needful.5” This tendency to define God by human concepts of love leads directly to self-serving

heresy, such as is often presented by popular spirituality. While being interviewed, a religious talk-show host

mentioned a spiritual experience he once had of “what is defined by love, or oneness, or God.”6 He went on,

“Ultimately, our faith and deeds give us an experience of love and connectedness. The more good we do, the more

experience we have with God, or love.” When asked what was his message to the audience, he replied, “We are all

made of love, God is love, and we are God” (emphasis added).7 This is clearly and aberrant understanding of John’s

teaching (cf. 4:10).”

104 Bickle, “Contemplative Prayer.”

25

spiritual encounter. Contemplative prayer utilizes extended repetition of a “love word” or

“sacred word” which enables one to connect with God.105 This connection is not found through

rational thought, but through “an altered consciousness that refuses to identify or feed with what

are only passing shows.”106 After assessing the similarities of contemplative prayer with eastern

meditation, D.R. McConnell concluded that contemplative prayer involves “going beyond

thought” and thus negates the relational alert requirement for communicating with God.107 Thus,

in his book critiquing the Word of Faith movement, he argues that “we have no good reason to

engage in the practice.”108

The Word of Faith Movement. At its core, the Word of Faith Movement is “a cultic

infiltration of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements.”109 Though Kenneth Hagin is seen as

the father of the movement, his theology is the theology of E. W. Kenyon, whom he often

heavily plagiarized.110 This section will assess Kenyon’s adoption of the teachings of

Unitarianism, Christian Science, and New Thought and how those teachings were taken and used

by Hagin and other Word of Faith teachers. Though Kenyon began his spiritual journey in the

Methodist and Baptist traditions, in his twenties, he entered into study under one of the most

105 Thomas Keating, Foundations for Centering Prayer and the Christian Contemplative Life (New York

City, NY: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2002), 116.

106 Richard Rohr, “Contemplation: Finding Ourselves, Finding God,” Huffington Post, October 30, 2011,

accessed March 31, 2020, http://www.huffington-post.com /fr-richard-rohr/contemplation-finding-ourselves-

finding־god_b_1035271.html.

107 Douglas Groothuis and Sarah Geis, “Examining Contemplative Prayer,” Bibliotheca Sacra 172 (March

2015): 23.

108 Groothuis and Geis, “Examining Contemplative Prayer,” 22.

109 D. R. McConnell, A Different Gospel: A Bold and Revealing Look at the Biblical and Historical Basis of

the Word of Faith Movement (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2011), Kindle, 549.

110 Ibid, Kindle, 250-542.

26

prominent Unitarian teachers of the 19th century, Minot Savage.111 Many of the doctrinal

teachings of the Word of Faith movement mirror unitarian teachings, including: faulty views on

theology proper and the Trinity, confusion about the nature of Jesus Christ, confusion about the

nature of mankind, and confusion about penal substitutionary atonement.112 Additionally,

Kenyon attended Emerson College, which had “some of the best known and most articulate

advocates of New Thought.”113

The net result of this influence was a substantial deviation from traditional biblical

doctrine and an acceptance of New Age Gnosticism and mysticism. For instance, in his book,

The Hidden Man, Kenyon states that “man was created in the same class with God,” which

equates man’s nature with divinity.114 Additionally, he discounted the sufficiency of Scripture

with statements like, “the recreated spirit is also the fountain of wisdom,” which affirmed that

new revelation could come from within one’s spirit.115 Kenyon also affirmed that “God becomes

a part of our very consciousness,” in an effort to justify the divine power that people have in their

minds.116 In concert with Mary Baker Eddy and P. P. Quimby, Kenyon argues that science can

be conducted in the spiritual realm.117 This justified virtually any exploration into non-Christian,

New Age, or occult practice to see if it would bring about the desired results. Two of the most

111 McConnell, A Different Gospel, Kindle, 875-957.



114 E. W. Kenyon, The Hidden Man: The New Self: An Unveiling of the Subconscious Mind, ed. Ruth

Kenyon (Lynnwood, WA: Kenyon’s Gospel Publishing Society Inc., 2019), 1.

115 Ibid.

116 Ibid, 137.

117 McConnell, A Different Gospel: A Bold and Revealing Look at the Biblical and Historical Basis of the

Word of Faith Movement, Kindle, 1194.

27

prominent teachings that Hagin later celebrated in The Power of Positive Confession and Sign-

Posts on the Road to Success were the power of positive confession and the Christian’s right to

prosperity.118 In these books, Kenyon argues that it is “the unseen you” who has been created

with everything necessary for success.119

Kenneth Hagin took the teachings of Kenyon and elevated them to the level of irrefutable

revelation, even threatening those who disagreed with execution.120 One of the primary ways that

he did this was through his adept combination of the use of scriptural proof-texts interwoven

with new prophetic revelation.121 Hagin taught three key doctrines that he utilized from Christian

Science, New Thought, and the Holiness Movement. First, Hagin argued that spiritual

knowledge is superior to intellectual knowledge and that to truly understand the things of God

one must “by-pass the brain.”122 This divorced revelation from propositional truth, creating a

form of “direct insight” into God’s mind and “transcending all ordinary levels of human

experience.”123 The result is similar to other movements; whatever the spiritual “prophet” says is

divine revelation and beyond correction, even by Scripture itself. Second, Hagin holds that

salvation involves the deification of mankind, and thus, as there can be no sickness in God,

118 Don Gossett and E. W. Kenyon, The Power of the Postive Confession of God’s Word (Don Gossett,

1981); E. W. Kenyon, Sign Posts on the Road To Success (Lynnwood, WA: Kenyon’s Gospel Publishing Society

Inc., 1966).

119 Kenyon, Sign Posts on the Road To Success, 44.

120 Hank Hanegraaff, Christianity in Crisis: The 21st Century (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2009),

Kindle, 648-768.


Word of Faith Movement, Kindle, 1631.

122 Kenneth Hagin, Right and Wrong Thinking (Tulsa, OK: Faith Library Publications, 1966), 27.

123 Carl F. H. Henry, God, Revelation and Authority: Volume 1: God Who Speaks and Shows: Preliminary

Considerations (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1999), Kindle, 1476.

28

therefore there can be no sickness in believers who understand this doctrine. He affirms what is

known as “identification theology” as he states that being born-again involves “a real

incarnation” involving God’s “nature, substance and being.”124 For the Word of Faith movement,

this teaching that Christians are the same as Jesus Himself gives them justification to hear from

God exactly as Jesus did and perform signs and wonders exactly as Jesus did. Third, similar to

New Age philosophy, Hagin treats faith as a way to “write your own ticket with God.”125 Similar

to Byrne’s The Secret, Hagin teaches that “when we talk right and believe right, we will climb to

the top.”126 These are only some of the central teachings of the Word of Faith movement as

disseminated by Kenneth Hagin and many of the key leaders of the movement. All of them led to

the syncretization of Christian theology with New Age thinking and practices.

Bethel Redding. One significant incursion of the New Age Movement into the American

Church has been through Bill Johnson and Bethel Church in Redding, California. This section

will cover the explicitly New Age beliefs and practices held by the leaders of the Bethel

movement. Bethel’s support of “New Thought” will be handled in the next section. The central

treatise on Bethel’s acceptance of New Age philosophy and practices is found in the book, The

Physics of Heaven, edited by Bill Johnson’s administrative assistant, Judy Franklin, and home-

school curriculum developer Ellyn Davis. The following all contribute a chapter or more to the

book: Kris Vallotton, Bob Jones, Bill Johnson, Jonathan Welton, Ray Hughes, Dan McCollam,

Cal Pierce, Larry Randolph, David Van Koevering, and Beni Johnson. This book is sold on

124 Kenneth Hagin, Zoe: The God-Kind of Life (Tulsa, OK: Faith Library Publications, 1982), 42; Kenneth

Hagin, “Walking in the Light of Life,” Word of Faith (January 1, 1978), 3.

125 Kenneth Hagin, “How to Write Your Own Ticket with God,” Hope Faith Prayer, n.d., accessed April 1,

2020, https://www.hopefaithprayer.com/faith/kenneth-hagin-faith-lesson-no-23-how-to-write-your-own-ticket-with-

god/.

126 Ibid.

29

Bethel’s website and is endorsed by the major leaders of Bethel Redding, Bill Johnson, and Kris

Vallotton. There is no better, nor clearer, source published by Bethel that outlines their stance on

the New Age Movement and its practices.

Franklin’s first sentence sums up the theological foundation of the book and Bethel’s

entire engagement with the New Age: “My journey into the mysteries of sound, light, vibrations,

and quantum mechanics began with one word—‘sound.’”127 Franklin, Davis, and the leaders of

Bethel are not diving into the Scriptures to acquire their knowledge; rather, they are relying on a

subjective inner voice experience.128 Davis goes on to explain, like others who engage in New

Age syncretism, that “the Christianity of my childhood seemed to have little relevance to my

everyday life.”129 Thus, she sought out truth in the New Age movement and claims that “a lot of

what I saw and heard in the New Age Movement embodied biblical principles and could be

backed up by Scripture.”130 Given these statements and the endorsements and contributions to

the book by key Bethel leaders, it is impossible to deny that Bethel Redding has fully embraced

New Age Movement practices and attempted to syncretize them with a Christian veneer.

The following is a list of practices defended in The Physics of Heaven: (1) a sound from

heaven is coming that will “change DNA” and make human DNA “the same as His;” (2)

spiritual people carry “good energy” around with them that takes the form of “vibrations;” (3)

Angels teach people about how to command them and how to manipulate the physical universe

127 Judy Franklin and Ellyn Davis, The Physics of Heaven (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image Publishers,

Inc., 2012), Kindle, 114.

128 Ibid.



30

with sound; (4) “the spiritual discoveries of the New Age movement” are like the Ark of the

Covenant being held by the Philistines; (5) “Jesus has given us the power, through our faith and

our intent, to “pop a qwiff” and bring things from the unseen world into the visible;” and (6) all

things are connected through a “mystical connection.”131 There is no attempt to hide that these

are New Age principles, but there is every attempt to defend their use in the church through

eisegeting Scripture.

In summary, the Christian Church has seen many incursions of NAM practices and

philosophies over the last century. As reported in the LA Times, these syncretizations have

captured the minds and hearts “of a growing number of young people . . . who have turned away

from traditional organized religion and are embracing more spiritual beliefs and practices like

tarot, astrology, meditation, energy healing, and crystals.”132 However, the church has not been

silent. There are a number of apologists, pastors, and academics who have seen NAM influence

and have stood against it.

Current Landscape of Apologetic Refutation of NAM Syncretism

Having detailed both the origins of the New Age Movement as well at its infiltration of

the American Church, the following section will conduct a survey of literature that has been

written in an effort to provide a polemic against New Age syncretism. The review will group

works into three categories: academic, apologetic, and popular. Academic works are typically

authored by people with advanced degrees and demonstrate a substantial level of research,

131 Franklin and Davis, The Physics of Heaven, Kindle, 480, 792, 1229, 1353, 1637, 1669.

132 Jessica Roy, “Must Reads: How Millenials Replaced Religion with Astrology and Crystals,” Los

Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA, July 10, 2019), accessed January 21, 2021,

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:AGuG813IG10J:https://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-

millennials-religion-zodiac-tarot-crystals-astrology-20190710-story.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us.

31

citation, and synthesis throughout the books. Apologetic works are aimed at lay-level and often

focus on a polemical approach to Christian syncretism. They can be authored by people with or

without degrees, but still demonstrate a high degree of scholarly research. Popular level books

are written for the lay person. They are often researched but utilize secondary resources rather

than primary literature. The works reviewed in this section will not be summarized; rather, each

work will receive a short description of the main contributions that it makes to the field. This is

not an exhaustive list.

Academic Works

One of the top academic books on the New Age Movement and Christianity is The New

Age Movement and the Biblical Worldview by John Newport.133 This book does an excellent job

at tracing the origins of the New Age Movement and provides a direct comparison of New Age

theology and biblical theology. The second half of the book is especially useful, as it covers the

interaction of the two worldviews in major areas of culture such as health, business, art,

education, science, and history. The only issue with this book is that, being written in 1998, it is

not up-to-date on the current forms of New Age syncretism. Thus, much of the polemical

information could use a substantial update to reflect contemporary issues.

Another pivotal academic book is the Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs by John

Ankerberg and John Weldon.134 This book provides extensive coverage on a wide variety of

New Age practices. The authors discuss New Age theology incidentally, but the focus remains

on the practices themselves. For each practice, they provide a brief statement about its use in

133 Newport, The New Age Movement and the Biblical Worldview: Conflict and Dialogue.

134 John Ankerberg and John Weldon, Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs (Eugene, OR: Harvest House

Publishers, 1996).

32

Christianity and how Christians should deal with these practices. These sections are short and

there is ample room for further research. Additionally, as with Newport’s book, this book was

written in the mid-1990’s and does not discuss contemporary New Age practices like the

Enneagram.

In terms of a direct and thorough refutation of the NAR, Douglas Geivett’s and Holly

Pivec’s books, A New Apostolic Reformation: A Biblical Response to a Worldwide Movement

and God’s Super-Apostles: Encountering the Worldwide Prophets and Apostles Movement,

represent the best and most balanced of contemporary scholarship.135 These books cover similar

ground and give an account of the Biblical versus NAR understanding of the offices of the

apostle and prophet. They are very charitable in their analyses of the NAR and critique the

movement along strictly biblical lines. Though they do mention NAR connections to the New

Age, they tend to treat the NAR as a Christian movement with bad theology. They do not cover

many explicit NAR practices; instead, they evaluate Christian practices that have been modified

by the NAR such as prophecy, miracles, and spiritual warfare.

Also critiquing the NAR is False Prophets Among Us by Kent Philpott.136 This book is

split into two major sections. First, Philpott provides book critiques for many of the major

doctrinal books by NAR authors. These critiques are invaluable as they quickly assess each

chapter in each book and note any essential heretical issues found therein. He does not hold any

punches in his assessments, and his condemnation of these authors is both blunt and clear. In the

135 Geivett and Pivec, A New Apostolic Reformation?: A Biblical Response to a Worldwide Movement; R.

Douglas Geivett and Holly Pivec, God’s Super-Apostles: Encountering the Worldwide Prophets and Apostles

Movement (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).

136 Kent Philpott, False Prophets Among Us: A Critical Analysis of the New Apostolic Reformation (San

Rafael, CA: Earthen Vessel Publishing, 2017).

33

second section, Philpott provides a series of essays through which he presents his personal

theology and credentials for authoring the book. Additionally, he comments on Pentecostal

theology, to which he holds, and offers his thoughts on the direction Pentecostalism should take.

The book serves as a great overview of the various key books of the NAR but does not deal

extensively with many New Age practices.

Heath Henning’s book entitled Crept in Unawares: Mysticism is an excellent new

addition to the academic literature on New Age philosophy and the church.137 He examines the

New Age movement as a modern iteration of ancient Gnosticism. The second half of the book is

useful, as it contains a detailed discussion of how experientialism has taken over the American

Church and provided the soil for the adoption of New Age practices. He focuses on

contemplative prayer and contemporary Christian music as the greatest offenders due to their

origins in ancient mysticism. Finally, he provides an integrated treatment of “Kingdom Now” or

“Dominion” theology and draws connections to both Islam and New Age organizations.

In terms of graduate work, there have been no Ph.D. dissertations that have directly

assessed either the Christian Enneagram or Christian Yoga against a biblical worldview or

biblical doctrine. The overwhelming majority of dissertations on both practices are concerned

with integrating the practices into Christian living and are written with the assumption that both

practices are valid for Christian use.138 Additionally, there is at least one Master’s thesis that

137 Henning, Crept in Unawares: Mysticism.

138 William Cluley, “Vital Gifts and Veiled Temptations: Using the Enneagram to Understand Holy

Identity” (Dissertation, Lancaster Theological Seminary, 2005); Mary John Dye, “God’s Word for Every Heart:

Exegesis through Enneagram Types” (Professional Project Report, Drew University School of Theology, 1997);

Jeremy David Johnson, “The Connection between Lead Pastors’ Enneagram Personality Type and Congregational

Size” (Dissertation, Southeastern University, 2019); Tracy Clayton, “Clergy Spiritual Assessment Using the

Enneagram” (Dissertation, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, 2014); Eileen Sutcliffe, “The Enneagram as a

34

addresses the issue of yoga being used in the church which does an excellent job at

demonstrating yoga’s Hindu origins and theological commitments. However, it does not provide

a full systematic theological refutation of yoga.139

Apologetic Works

Douglas Groothuis is the premier apologist concerning New Age syncretism with

Christianity and has authored multiple books and articles on the subject. His two most famous

works, Unmasking the New Age and Confronting the New Age have been pivotal for providing

both awareness of the NAM’s intentions and how to prevent it from infiltrating one’s church. In

Unmasking, Groothuis focuses on the counter-cultural origins of the NAM and how it capitalized

on an influx of science and pseudo-science to present a view of the future that involved a

fundamental change in ages. In Confronting, Groothuis shifts his content toward fighting back

against a New Age culture. He covers how to spot New Age counterfeit spirituality, how to

present biblical Christianity to those who have come under the sway of the New Age, and how to

deal with culture’s appropriation of the New Age movement in everyday life. Due to these books

being written in the 1980s, he does not cover many New Age practices that are currently in

vogue.

Another pillar of the faith who defends Christianity against the New Age is Walter

Martin. In his books, The Kingdom of the Cults, The Kingdom of the Occult, and The New Age

Cult, Martin provides a clear understanding of the major theological tenets of the New Age

Movement, how Christians can use the Bible to respond to these teachings, and the dangers

Model for Adult Christian Education” (Master’s Thesis, St. Stephen’s College, 2002); Jennifer Wilken, “Son

Salutations: Christian Yoga in the United States, 1989-2014” (Master’s Thesis, Arizona State University, 2014).

139 Injib Kim, “Christian Yoga as a Product of Hinduism and the New Age Movement” (Master’s Thesis,

Liberty University, 2009).

35

Christians face in a world quickly being overcome by New Age philosophy.140 The only issue

with his set of books is that having been written in the 1980s, they do not cover many of the New

Age practices in use today. However, they remain excellent resources on the polemical approach

to dealing with New Age groups and individuals.

The late Norman Geisler was also a critic of the New Age Movement and wrote The

Infiltration of the New Age and Apologetics in the New Age.141 Unique to his take on the NAM is

his focus on its pantheistic elements as they pertain to the deification of the self. Few other books

explore the pantheistic underpinnings as well as Geisler and his co-author Clark, and they

demonstrate how it is pantheism that drives the NAM doctrine of man and revelation. These

analyses make Apologetics a vital resource for understanding NAM thought. However,

Infiltration is not as useful, due to its early date of authorship and much of the material contained

within is covered in greater depth elsewhere.

Catholic friar, Mitch Pacwa, provides a unique and noteworthy critique of Catholicism’s

syncretism with the NAM in Catholics and the New Age.142 In Catholics, Pacwa focuses his

critique on the aspects of the NAM that deal with psychology. Specifically, he outlines Jungian

psychology and the Enneagram and their acceptance into many Catholic seminaries. He

effectively demonstrates how they are fundamentally anti-Christian in both origin and

140 Walter Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults (Bloomington, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2003); Walter

Martin, The Kingdom of the Occult (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2008); Walter Martin, The New Age Cult

(Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 1989).

141 J. Yutaka Amano and Norman Geisler, The Infiltration of the New Age (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House

Publishers, 1989); David Clark and Norman Geisler, Apologetics in the New Age: A Christian Critique of Pantheism

(Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1990).

142 Pacwa, Catholics and the New Age: How Good People Are Being Drawn into Jungian Psychology, the

Enneagram, and the Age of Aquarius.

36

syncretistic implementation. Though the Enneagram made its way through Catholic circles in the

1970s, it is currently making its way through mainstream evangelical Christianity. Thus, his

book is vital for assessing this practice in its new iterations.

A Different Gospel by D. R. McConnell, Christianity in Crisis by Hank Hanegraaff, and

Playing with Holy Fire by Michael Brown all address various theological heresies and abuses

within the Charismatic Movement.143 McConnell addresses the rise and influence of the Word of

Faith Movement by ascertaining its true origins in “New Thought” and Christian Science and

then presenting an overview of its main theological premises which all exhibit New Age

philosophy. Hanegraaff also addresses the Word of Faith Movement, but with a special emphasis

on prosperity teaching. He admirably demonstrates that the Word of Faith Movement is not

characteristic of the Pentecostal/Charismatic Church in general and ends with five chapters on

how Charismatics can return to orthodox belief. Michael Brown addresses the wide umbrella of

Charismatic churches and is more a call to accountability than a polemic refutation. This trio of

books provides a much-needed charitable perspective on the Charismatic Church’s involvement

with the NAM and demonstrates that the Charismatic Movement can be orthodox when the

NAM issues are dealt with.

The following trio of books all represent works that deal with an individual book or New

Age practice. This short list is only a selection of the many books of this type: The Physics of

Heaven: The Theology of the New Apostolic Reformation, Sense and Nonsense About Angels and


Word of Faith Movement; Hanegraaff, Christianity in Crisis: The 21st Century; Michael Brown, Playing with Holy

Fire: A Wake-Up Call to the Pentecostal-Charismatic Church (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2018).

37

Demons, and Yoga and the Body of Christ.144 These books provide excellent critiques of the

various practices and books that they cover: quantum mysticism, angelic encounters, and yoga.

However, none of these books presents a refutation from a systematic theology approach. Thus,

there is still substantial research to be done in these areas.

Popular Works

There are a number of books written at the popular level concerning Christianity and the

New Age Movement. The following is a short list of some of the more popular books: The

Second Coming of the New Age by Bancarz and Peck, God, Greed, and the (Prosperity) Gospel

by Costi Hinn, Kundalini Warning by Andrew Strom, A “Wonderful” Deception by Warren

Smith, and Taboo or to Do by Clifford and Johnson.145 These books have filled a massive gap in

popular literature dealing with the current infiltration of New Age practices in the American

Church. They are all exceptional at exposing New Age mysticism and practice and how it has

been largely accepted by American Christianity. The only downside is that these books are not

written at the academic level.

Conclusion of Literature Review

In the 1970s and 1980s, there was a substantial amount of literature written at the

apologetic level that countered the New Age Movement and attempted to prepare Christians for

144 Frederick Osborn, The Physics of Heaven: The Theology of the New Apostolic Reformation (U.S.A.:

Books for All, 2016); Kenneth D. Boa and Robert M. Bowman Jr., Sense & NonSense About Angels and Demons

(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007); Dave Hunt, Yoga and the Body of Christ (The Berean Call, 2006).

145 Steven Bancarz and Josh Peck, The Second Coming of the New Age: The Hidden Dangers of Alternative

Spirituality in Contemporary America and Its Churches (Crane, MO: Defender Publishing, 2018); Costi Hinn, God,

Greed, and the (Prosperity) Gospel: How Truth Overwhelms a Life Built on Lies (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan,

2019); Andrew Strom, Kundalini Warning: Are False Spirits Invading the Church? (RevivalSchool, 2015); Warren

Smith, A “Wonderful” Deception: The Further New Age Implications of the Emerging Purpose Driven Movement

(Magalia, CA: Mountain Stream Press, 2011); Ross Clifford and Philip Johnson, Taboo or to Do?: Is Christianity

Complementary with Yoga, Martial Arts, Hallowe’en, Mindfulness and Other Alternative Practices? (London, U.K.:

Darton, Longman and Todd, 2016).

38

the coming attack on their churches. In the 1990s, few books were written on the topic of the

NAM from the Christian perspective, but the few that were written were academic in origin and

filled a major need. However, there has been a drought for the first two decades of the 21st

century. As a result, the New Age Movement has fundamentally changed the face of American

Christianity. In the last four years (2016-2020), there has been a surge of popular level books

written exposing the NAM, NAR, WoF, and New Age practices that have been accepted by

churches and Christians. However, there is no academic, polemical, theological treatise

critiquing New Age movement practices at a comprehensive theological level. Thus, this

dissertation fills a gap in the literature and a serious need in the church

39

Chapter 2: Methodology

The Qualitative Paradigm

Research into the area of Christian syncretism requires unobtrusive data collection and

analysis of the following: (1) documents/articles/books detailing New Age theology and

practices, (2) documents/articles/books containing attempts to syncretize or utilize New Age

practices in a Christian setting, and (3) documents/articles/books attempting to deny the

integration of New Age practices in the Christian church. The author recognizes that people

come from different perspectives and utilize words in different ways and will be respectful of the

viewpoints presented in each data source. Additionally, the author will make every attempt to

analyze and interpret the sources fairly, and in their context, avoiding both mischaracterization

and misrepresentation. This research is unobtrusive because the author will not need to speak

directly with any of the practitioners studied, the author need only analyze their written

materials. In order to properly assess for syncretism, the author will engage in content analysis

research.

Qualitative Research Design – Content Analysis

This dissertation will involve the development of criteria across four areas of theological

thought, each containing five theological topics, in order to conduct a content analysis to

determine the level of syncretism present in the works of the Christian practitioners. The criteria

will be presented in the form of dichotomies derived from the content of each of the theological

topics.

One of the main issues with the development of the criteria will be how to reconcile

doublespeak in the texts. By definition, syncretistic beliefs hold theological assertions that come

from two different religious traditions and often they hold multiple assertions that are

40

contradictory. If contradictory beliefs are present in a text, only the syncretistic statements will

be reflected in the final analysis.

Research Procedure for Data Analysis

Development of Criteria

The dichotomy questions will be developed from the theological summary material

provided in Chapter 3. Dichotomies will determine if the practice syncretizes on any teaching

that is necessary for Christians to believe in order to claim historical orthodoxy. If a source

indicates the presence of both a biblical and New Age viewpoint, only the syncretistic viewpoint

will be incorporated.

Analysis of Results

Results will be presented in both color grids and in percentage analyses. This will allow

for the reader to quickly assess both the quantity of theological syncretization as well as the

degree to which syncretization has permeated the practice as a whole.

Assumptions

In order to assess for syncretism, this dissertation will affirm a broadly evangelical

theology as the standard orthodox set of beliefs. Some of the distinctives of evangelical theology

that will have a prominent place in guiding the application of the criteria will be the following:

(1) the necessity of the Creator/creature distinction, (2) the sufficiency of Christ’s death on the

cross for salvation, and (3) the inability of mankind to develop spiritually on his own power.

However, the following topics will not be assumed from tradition due to the fact that they are

debated within evangelical circles: (1) monism/dualism of human nature, (2)

cessationism/continuationism, (3) predestination election/choice election. The dissertation will

41

also incorporate theological standpoints of other Christian denominations and branches as they

merit comparison to New Age theology.

The theological method that will be utilized in this dissertation is as follows. Scripture

will be affirmed as supreme epistemological authority and as the ultimate source of truth in the

dissertation. Reason will serve as a test for the veridicality of theological statements and

interpretations of the Bible. Tradition will serve as a historical guide to orthodox belief and

practice as informed by Scripture and reason. Fourth, in contrast with modern thinking,

experience will only serve as a source of knowledge as bound and limited by the proceeding

three sources.

Limitations

One of the leading limitations on any study of the New Age Movement and its practices

is that the NAM is not a monolithic organization with a concrete doctrine and set of practices.1

Thus, it is not possible to speak on behalf of the entire movement which means that evaluations

can only be done on specific instances of the NAM. Additionally, Christian syncretization

attempts are not organizational either, thus, all attempts to analyze potentially syncretistic

practices must be done on a case by case basis. This dissertation will take the following approach

to overcome this limitation. In the determination of NAM beliefs and practices, the author will

utilize both summary sources and primary sources to develop common trends in NAM thinking

rather than official doctrine. Second, the author will survey the most popular representative

voices as well as a number of minor voices and form a consensus of the beliefs and practical

1 John Newport, The New Age Movement and the Biblical Worldview: Conflict and Dialogue (Grand

Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998), 1-2.

42

elements surrounding the various syncretistic practices. Though the study will not be

comprehensive, it will be thorough enough to allow for broad recommendations to be made.

Delimitations

Though there are many differences between the NAM and Christian theology, the author

will be limiting the points of comparison to those which best articulate the worldview of each

belief system. As such, the author has developed four general theological groups to ensure that a

broad range of beliefs are accounted for but will be highly selective in which topics within those

groups are utilized for the study. Second, there are a number of potentially syncretistic practices

that this study could cover, but the author will only focus on two that have had a great impact on

the church in the last decade. This will be done to ensure that the quality of research remains at

the highest level. Third, although Christian doctrine can be syncretized with any other system of

belief (New Age, Mormonism, Islam, Secularism, Post-Modernism), this dissertation will

develop criteria that specifically assess for the presence of New Age syncretism.

Ethical Considerations

Given that the research consists solely of published documents, the only ethical

consideration present is my faithful, truthful, and considerate reporting of the beliefs and

practices in question.

Plans for Presenting the Results

After the data are analyzed, all results will be presented in Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 of the

dissertation report. Additionally, the author plans to conduct a series of talks at churches around

the country on the topic of the dissertation to raise awareness about the problem of New Age

syncretism and equip pastors, church staff, and church members with the ability to prevent its

spread and draw people back into a biblical faith. The author also intends to develop a popular

43

level book on the topic of the dissertation to help develop Christians theologically and equip

them to discern New Age practices. These books and videos will be made available on my

ministry website.

Summary

This chapter discussed the research method for developing and applying assessment

criteria to determine whether or not certain syncretistic practices are viable for church use.

Dichotomy questions will be developed to assess each of the practices according to both

evangelical theology and New Age Movement theology. The data for comparison will be

gleaned from published works by specific practitioners. The results of the analysis will be

presented in Chapter 4 of the dissertation report, and the discussion of the conclusions will be

presented in Chapter 5. Finally, the author would like to credit Gordon Davis and Clyde Parker

for their contribution to the development of this dissertation proposal even though they were not

directly cited elsewhere.2

2 Gordon Davis and Clyde Parker, Writing the Doctoral Dissertation: A Systematic Approach, 3rd ed.

(Hauppauge, NY: Barron’s Educational Series Publishing, 2012); Steven Terrell, Writing a Proposal for Your

Dissertation: Guidelines and Examples (New York City, NY: The Guilford Press, 2016).

44

Chapter 3: Development of Assessment Criteria for Church Practices

A Comparison of Christian Theology with New Age Movement Beliefs

Introduction

The goal of this section is to provide the data from which to build sets of theological

dichotomies that can be used to test Christian practices for syncretism. The section is comprised

of four broad theological categories with five topics in each as well as a section on authentic vs.

inauthentic spirituality. The point of discussion in each of these topics is not to provide a defense

for individual theological standpoints, nor to exhaustively describe and detail these points.

Rather, it is to present the broadly evangelical view of Christianity on each topic, followed by a

general understanding of the New Age Movement’s teaching on the subject. The Christian

section will contain both biblical data as well as theological and historical viewpoints. The New

Age section will be comprised of both direct statements from NAM leaders as well as comments

from those who have analyzed and synthesized NAM teachings.

Doctrines Concerning Divine Revelation

Supremacy of Propositional Truth vs. Authority of New Consciousness

Christianity. Traditionally, Christians have held to the following forms of revelation.

First, God has made Himself known through his Creation.1 This is called general revelation and

can be seen in verses like Romans 1:20, which states, “For His invisible attributes, that is, His

eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being

1 Ronald H. Nash, The Word of God and the Mind of Man (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1982), 44. It

is important to understand that the assertion of the importance and preeminence of propositional revelation does not

preclude the existence and utility of revelation of other types.

45

understood through what He has made.”2 This form of revelation is able to hold people

accountable before God, but due to the noetic effects of sin, “human beings do not in fact

succeed in attaining a sure and saving knowledge of God by natural revelation or natural

theology.”3

The second type of divine revelation is special revelation, whereby “specific truths of

God and his redemptive purposes . . . are given to specific people at specific times and specific

places.”4 As such, special revelation can come through a “personal encounter with the Lord,” in

which God either manifests His presence to a person (Exodus 3:1-6) or displays His mighty

works and miracles (Exodus 7:14-11:10).5 Additionally, special revelation can come through the

Incarnation itself, as God directly interfaces with humanity through human nature. Finally, God

can also speak verbally and propositionally through human words (2 Timothy 3:16-17). In

contrast, the Bible does not speak of a revelation coming from a modified human consciousness.

Additionally, though God interacts with humans in a variety of ways, evangelicals have typically

recognized Scripture as the only source of revelation that Christians currently have access to that

is inspired. This means that the revelation of God has been infallibly communicated through the

autographs of Scripture and “all a priori conceptions, all conjectural postulations, all subjective

2 Romans 1:20.

3 Avery Cardinal Dulles, Modes of Revelation (New York City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1992), 37.

4 David Dockery, “Special Revelation,” in A Theology for the Church, ed. Daniel Akin (Nashville, TN:

B&H Publishing Group, 2014), Kindle, 4813.

5 Ibid.

46

expectations are answerable to and subject to what is given through divine self-revelation” as

found in Scripture.6

The word of God is God’s own speech. Though the concept of God speaking and

meaning things through words has long been under attack, Scripture itself affirms that He does.

For instance, Job recounts how he did not forget “the commandment of [God’s] lips” and how he

“treasured the words of [God’s] mouth.”7 Additionally, Scripture repeatedly references how “the

word of the Lord came” to various prophets.8 Theologians like Wolterstorff have contributed

greatly to the understanding of God’s speech through the linking of words and sentences to “the

illocutionary stance” of God and affirming that God can authorize and deputize prophets and

apostles to write and speak His words.9 Thus, as Henry affirms, theological claims based on

Scripture are "true not because they are human affirmations about the divine, but only as they

express God’s communication of his concerns and expectations.”10 The fundamental difference

between religions then is not simply that their content differs, but that the source of their content

differs. Scripture, as divine revelation, is God’s speech, whereas all other religions are the

creation of people.

6 Carl F. H. Henry, God, Revelation and Authority: Volume 3: God Who Speaks and Shows: Fifteen Theses,

Part Two (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1999), 31207.

7 Job 23:12.

8 Jeremiah 1:4.

9 Nicholas Wolterstorff, Divine Discourse: Philosophical Reflections on the Claim That God Speaks

(Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1995), Kindle, 2341, 5117.

10 Carl F. H. Henry, God, Revelation and Authority: Volume 3: God Who Speaks and Shows: Fifteen

Theses, Part Two, Kindle, 31184.

47

Scripture is also clear on the properties of God’s Word as revelation.11 First, it is

propositional; using words, God directly communicates to mankind revealing things about

Himself through “language” that correlate sufficiently with “reality.”12 This is affirmed through

Scriptural statements like: “so My word that comes from My mouth will not return to Me empty,

but it will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I send it to do,” and “every word of

God proves true.”13 One corollary to the idea that God can only speak truth is the idea that God’s

words are univocal, having only one meaning.14 If God can truly communicate and can expect

people to respond accordingly to that communication, then He must communicate in such a way

as to be able to imbue the words He speaks with concrete meaning that is understandable by

11 John M. Frame, The Doctrine of the Word of God (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2010), 7; Henry,

God, Revelation and Authority: Volume 1: God Who Speaks and Shows: Preliminary Considerations, Kindle, 4675.

The use of Scripture to define revelation may either be circular or appear to be so depending on how one attempts to

ground divine revelation. Frame argues that “circularity of a kind is unavoidable when one seeks to defend and

ultimate standard of truth, for one’s defense must itself be accountable to that standard.” Thus, he takes Scripture to

be divine revelation axiomatically and asserts that ultimate standards make the same claim. Henry takes a similar

approach and argues that Divine revelation is the “basic epistemological axiom” and the “source of all truth.” He

then asserts that Scripture “is its verifying principle.”

12 Henry, God, Revelation and Authority: Volume 1: God Who Speaks and Shows: Preliminary

Considerations, Kindle, 34468. One of the current discussions in the study of revelation is whether or not Scripture

is simply propositional in nature, or whether the revelation in Scripture is the result of a speech act. Authors like

Carl Henry argue that the intention of God in speaking is contained within the text itself and its immediate context.

Thus, there is no need to create a separate theory of language to explain authorial intent. Other theologians like

Vanhoozer argue that the illocutionary acts of God, such as commanding, declaring, and covenanting, are

themselves the connection between divine authorial intent and human words, and thus require specific classification.

Both of these theories have their merits, and both Vanhoozer and Henry argue for Scripture as being the only

authoritative source of revelation Christians now have.

13 Isaiah 55:11 (HCSB); Proverbs 30:5 (ESV).

14 Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Is There a Meaning in This Text? The Bible, the Reader, and the Morality of

Literary Knowledge, Landmarks in Christian Scholarship (Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan, 2009), Kindle, 7265-

7273.

48

people.15 As Henry affirms, “God’s revelation is intellectualistic” and “neither in part nor as a

totality is the truth of revelation an illogical or nonlogical monstrosity.”16

Other properties of God’s Word as revelation are that it is personal and authoritative in

nature. God’s Word is not simply declarative statements that exist for their own sake. Rather,

like all language should be, God’s Word is directed at humanity in general. In addressing

mankind, God’s language “creates obligations in the hearer” and is “authoritative not only in

telling us what to believe and do, but in directing our emotions, our preoccupations, our

priorities, our joys and sorrows.”17 This idea is borne out throughout the entire Bible; the

following is a sample of verses that teach the personal and authoritative nature of God’s Word:

“your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path,” “I assure you: Anyone who hears My

word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life.”18 These verses present a connection

between the word giver and the word itself. If the word is heard and the content is believed, then

judgment is changed. Additionally, the words of God act as a light for humanity in the darkness

of worldly thinking, thus these words act as an authority on the “light” or the good, while

simultaneously being given from God lovingly, so we would have a light on our path. In

conclusion, the Bible presents special revelation as the very Word of God. This Word is

personal, propositional, and authoritative. Once it is written, it cannot be changed.19

15 Norman Geisler and William Roach, Defending Inerrancy: Affirming the Accuracy of Scripture for a

New Generation (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2011), Kindle, 6071.

16 Henry, God, Revelation and Authority: Volume 3: God Who Speaks and Shows: Fifteen Theses, Part

Two, Kindle, 31408, 31827.

17 John M. Frame, The Doctrine of the Word of God (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2010), 54.

18 Psalm 119:105; John 5:24.

19 Frame, The Doctrine of the Word of God, 104.

49

New Age Movement. Revelation in the context of the New Age Movement is best

described by the “new awareness” model. This form of revelation is not “external,” nor is it

content-ful.20 Rather, it is an act of “recognition” whereby the human mind undergoes

“stimulation and enrichment” to become conscious of its own divinity and link to the Cosmos.21

New Age leader, Marilyn Ferguson, explains this recognition, saying “the transformation of

people . . . refers to the state of being conscious of one’s consciousness,” which is indicative of

ascending to a “wider dimension.”22 This form of revelation “has no fixed content” and orients

the inner spirit toward “greater integration, freedom, and self-possession.”23 One way New Age

adherents describe this type of revelation is the acquisition of the “Christ Consciousness” which

is “a state of total enlightenment, love, and compassion,” wherein one is “aware of one’s oneness

with God while living in the world of manifestation.”24

This form of revelation fundamentally differs from any form of evangelical Christian

revelation as it centers the revelatory act in mankind, rather than in God. For example, in

William Warch’s New Age book on New Thought, he argues that God exists in all people as the

“Christ Mind,” which serves as “a neverending [sic] reservoir of inspiration” that people have

direct access to for the express purpose of receiving revelation.25 In affirmng this, the entire aim

20 Dulles, Modes of Revelation, 99.

21 Teilhard de Chardin, “Outline of a Dialectic of Spirit,” in Activation of Energy (London, U.K.: Collins,

1970), 148; Teilhard de Chardin, Christianity and Evolution (New York City, NY: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,

1971), 143; cited in R. W. Kropf, Teilhard, Scripture and Revelation (Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson

University Press, 1980), 264.

22 Ferguson, The Aquarian Conspiracy: Personal and Social Transformation in Our Time,53.

23 Dulles, Modes of Revelation, 109.

24 Hanegraaff, New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought, 190.

25 Warch, The New Thought Christian: An Introduction to the Life-Changing Concepts of New Thought,

Kindle, 210.

50

of revelation changes. Rather than communicating to mankind eternal truth about God and His

work, revelation becomes a method by which one can participate in the “active transformation of

outer reality.”26 The centrality of this belief cannot be understated either in the context of the

NAM form of revelation or the totality of NAM theology. The new consciousness mode of

revelation as utilized by the NAM is a natural requisite as a result of its pantheistic/panentheistic

view of God. NAM revelation is not the means by which one receives knowledge about a

transcendent God, rather it is the means by which one recognizes that the self as god can remake

the world.27

The Bible: Word of God vs. Word of Man

Christianity. That the Bible is the very Word of God is central to the evangelical

understanding of Christianity and the development of all true theology. The key verse supporting

this doctrine is 2 Timothy 3:16-17 which states that, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is

profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man

of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”28 However, the idea that the Word of

God is inspired Scripture has received numerable opponents over the history of the Church.29

Through the writings of Spinoza, Kant, Newton, and others, a “dualistic, disjunctive”

26 Erich Jantsch, The Self-Organizing Universe: Scientific and Human Implications of the Emerging

Paradigm of Evolution (Oxford, U.K.: Pergamon Press, 1980), 164.

27 Hanegraaff, New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought, 229-

230; Carl F. H. Henry, God, Revelation and Authority: Volume 3: God Who Speaks and Shows: Fifteen Theses, Part

Two, Kindle, 31285. As a point of connection to issues in the Church, Henry points out that “many ecumenically

minded churches are resigned to fluid theological conceptions and to preoccupation with structures and activism at

the expense of doctrinal truth.” The engagement with a new consciousness form of revelation which emphasizes

one’s ability to “remake the world” leads to this type of doctrinal erosion and social activism.

28 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

29 John Morrison, Has God Said?: Scripture, The Word of God, and the Crisis of Theological Authority,

The Evangelical Theological Society Monograph Series (Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2006), Kindle, 117-

122.

51

understanding of God’s Word has entered the Church, causing there to be a “perceived ‘gulf’

between the historical text of Holy Scripture and a transcendentalized ahistorical ‘Word of

God.’”30 Theologian Ronald Nash argues that the attack on divine revelation has come on three

fronts: 1. “the nature of human knowledge,” 2. “the nature of God,” and 3. “the nature of human

language.”31 Additionally, he concludes that the lack of belief in divine revelation that

“thousands of theologians, seminary professors, and pastors share” is that “cognitive knowledge

about God is simply declared impossible and replaced by personal encounter, religious feeling,

trust, or obedience.”32

In order to overcome this issue, theologians have worked to demonstrate that Jesus is the

ontological Word of God incarnate, whereas Scripture is the “derivative Word of God.”33 In

practice the written Word of God is produced by God through man via inspiration and prophetic-

apostolic commission. Biblical inspiration is “a supernatural influence exerted on the sacred

writers by the Spirit of God, by virtue of which their writings are given Divine

trustworthiness.”34 With reference to 2 Timothy 3:16-17, inspiration is directly associated with

Scripture being “God-breathed” which means that Scripture is “a Divine product.”35 In this way,

the ontological bifurcation can be disproven. The words are human words written by a human

hand, but God is not as transcendental as the enlightenment thinkers claim. The God of

30 Morrison, Has God Said?, Kindle, 242-251.

31 Ronald H. Nash, The Word of God and the Mind of Man (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1982), 13.

32 Ibid, 12.

33 Morrison, Has God Said?, Kindle, 6380.

34 B. B. Warfield, The Biblical Idea of Inspiration (Public Domain, n.d.), Kindle, 10.


52

Christianity is able to be immanent in creation through personal communication and can use

human words to convey His meaning without infringing on the will of the human author.36

The second aspect of the production of the derivative Word of God is the bestowal of the

prophetic-apostolic commission, which is accomplished through the divine “exousia,” or

authority.37 This authority is conferred on the disciples though authoritative sending as found in

John 20:21: “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send

you.’”38 Paul understood this authority as coming from Jesus, the Lord, saying, “for if I boast

some more about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up . . . I am not

ashamed.”39 Additionally, he related the authority to his message directly, stating that Jesus “has

committed the message of reconciliation to us.”40 This authority was only given to the apostles

during the time of the early church and with the completion of Scripture “it is through the Bible

that Jesus Christ now exercises his divine authority, imparting authoritative truth, [and] issuing

authoritative commands.”41 Thus, no matter whether one is continuationist or cessationist, the

authority of Scripture must be supreme in terms of authority and theological revelation.

Finally, it is important to address the critique that human language cannot convey divine

truth. Secular theories of language typically argue that “human language originated in sense

36 Wolterstorff, Divine Discourse: Philosophical Reflections on the Claim That God Speaks, Kindle, 5254-

5635.


Theses, Part 3 (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1999), Kindle, 41867-41878.

38 John 20:21.

39 2 Corinthians 10:8.


41 William Procter, “Authority,” in Baker’s Dictionary of Theology, ed. Everett Harrison (Ada, MI: Baker

Publishing Group, 1987), 81.

53

experience” and lack the ability to “explain the nature and function of language.”42 However,

Scripture “implies that God instituted language as a vehicle for interpersonal communication and

fellowship.”43 Thus, whether or not human language can contain divine truth is at least in part

dependent on one’s undergirding philosophy of language. For instance, if language is rooted in

sense experience, language has no necessary anchoring absolute and could be construed as

purely subjective and unable to connect to reality. However, Nash points out that such a view, is

“obviously self-defeating” as language is necessary to articulate the view which renders itself

meaningless.44 By utilizing the starting presuppositions that God has created mankind for

relationship with Himself and that He has given mankind language so that He can communicate

truthfully with them, the biblical theory of language resolves the issue of being unable to traverse

the transcendence of God to reach mankind.45 Thus, as Henry states, though “exhaustive human

knowledge about God” is out of reach of mankind, language is perfectly capable of conveying

“information and instruction” about Himself in a readily understandable way.46

New Age Movement. NAM leaders do not have a doctrine of revelation per say;

however, they do hold a special relationship with words, which is evidenced through the doctrine

of positive confession or positive thinking. NAM leaders hold that because all people are

fundamentally connected to the Cosmic Mind, their words have the power of creativity. When


Two, Kindle, 33759.

43 Ibid.

44 Nash, The Word of God and the Mind of Man, 118.

45 Ibid, 120.


Two, Kindle, 34730.

54

people speak words, those words come with matter-energy vibrations and thus a positive or a

negative energy.47 One corollary of this doctrine is the idea that healing comes through the

removal of these negative energies. For instance, NAM leader Gary Zukov advises people to

“discharge” negative energy and thoughts at their “root” and simultaneously remind oneself of

the “spiritually profound” truth that “your life is no accident.”48

In terms of exactly how these energies and realities are changed, NAM leaders assert that

the verbal affirmations and nonverbal visualizations are able to reprogram the unconscious

mind.49 It is fundamental to the doctrine that the statements and visualizations are presented as

truth and not a mere wish or desire, otherwise the subconscious will not “start creating a reality

which reflects that belief.”50 The closer one can connect these beliefs to claims of divinity the

stronger the effect that they will have on the individual and the world around them.51

Thus, the NAM teaching on the power of words is directly connected to its understanding

of mankind as part of the divine Cosmos. As god, mankind can create whatever reality it so

desires through its “word” (verbal or pictorial). No reality is out of reach for humanity and

through positive thinking and confession perfect health and a perfect society can arise from the

universal consciousness.

47 Sanaya Roman, Living with Joy: Keys to Personal Power and Spiritual Transformation (Novato, CA: H.

J. Kramer, 1986), 38-39.

48 Zukav, Seat of the Soul, 244.

49 Willis Harmon, Global Mind Change: The Promise of the Last Years of the Twentieth Century

(Indianapolis, IN: Knowledge Systems, 1988), 76-77.


51 Ibid.

55

Sufficiency of Scripture vs. Ongoing Revelation

Christianity. There are many instances throughout Scripture that affirm its sufficiency.

First, there is a clear injunction against favoring mankind’s traditions over and above God’s

Word. For instance, Jesus summarizes portions of Isaiah stating “these people honor Me with

their lips, but their heart is far from Me. They worship Me in vain, teaching as doctrines the

commands of men.”52 This verse indicates that there will be people who will claim to know and

honor God and yet somehow deceptively teach doctrine contrary to Scripture. Sufficiency also

applies to whether or not people trust the Word of God. For instance, Pharaoh, Joshua and Caleb,

Ahab, Ahaz, Nineveh, Agrippa, the Pharisees, Pilate, the Sadducees, and Herod were all

presented with the truth of the Word of God. Those who responded by trusting in it were

rewarded whereas those who did not were in some fashion condemned.53 Additionally, 2

Timothy 3:16 affirms the use of Scripture alone as useful for Christian living.

One of the most important aspects of evangelical theology is the doctrine of the

sufficiency of Scripture. In doctrinal terms, “the sufficiency of Scripture means that all things

necessary for salvation and for living the Christian life In obedience to God and for his glory are

given to us in the Scriptures[;] . . . the Bible . . . is the authority that provides believers with all

the truth they need for reconciliation with God and for following after Christ.”54 The

Westminster Confession frames biblical sufficiency well, claiming that the Bible is “the whole

counsel of God.”55 In terms of doctrine, even if Scripture only indirectly makes a comment on an

52 Mark 7:6-7.


54 Matthew Barrett, God’s Word Alone: The Authority of Scripture: What the Reformers Taught . . . and

Why It Still Matters (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016), Kindle, 7847.

55 “The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646),” in Reformed Confessions, vol. 4, 235 (I.VI).

56

aspect of theology, it has full authority and remains the standard.56 Thus, the doctrine of the

sufficiency of Scripture precludes the addition of any further revelation whether “of the Spirit, or

traditions of men.”57

One of the prevalent attacks against the sufficiency and supremacy of Scripture is

pragmatism or as theologian C. H. Mackintosh calls it, “expediency,” or “doing all the good we

can, without due attention to the way in which that good is done.”58 It is unfortunate that

Christians go to sources other than Scripture in order to understand themselves and their

relationship with God. Biblical counselor Jay Adams argues that people’s “apathy” toward

finding Scriptural answers and methods “stems from the failure…to understand the Bible

theologically” and as a result, Christians “take all sorts of actions . . . that fail.”59 Both

Mackintosh and Adams use strong language to demonstrate the supremacy of Scripture and

distinguish the Bible’s counsel vs. the worlds counsel. Mackintosh states that “men must either

deny that the Bible is the Word of God, or admit its sufficiency and supremacy in all ages and in

all countries all stages and conditions of the human race.”60 Adams succinctly declares that if

man “rejects God’s counsel, whatever he follows instead turns out to be Satan’s counsel.”61

56 Barrett, God’s Word Alone: The Authority of Scripture: What the Reformers Taught . . . and Why It Still

Matters, 7983.


58 C. H. Mackintosh, The Bible: Its Sufficiency and Supremacy (www.book-ministry.com, n.d.), Kindle, 58.

59 Jay E. Adams, A Theology of Christian Counseling: More than Redemption (Grand Rapids, MI:

Zondervan, 1979), Kindle, 303.

60 Mackintosh, The Bible: Its Sufficiency and Supremacy, Kindle, 16.

61 Adams, A Theology of Christian Counseling: More than Redemption, Kindle, 191.

57

Rather than fall into the easy path of accepting the world’s problems and answers, Christians are

to “set a higher value than ever upon the Holy Scriptures.”62

One of the difficult issues surrounding the doctrine of sufficiency is the use of

extrabiblical information. No one denies that the Bible does not contain an encyclopedic

presentation of all knowledge of all things; instead, it contains what is sufficient for knowledge

of God and salvation.63 This is precisely the point where some New Age theology has

historically crept into the church. NAM leaders make comments that are not necessarily against

Scripture, but nor are they subordinate to Scripture. The key to determining whether or not a

statement is subordinate to Scripture is whether the knowledge can properly be applied by

Scripture. First, the scriptural doctrine concerning a specific topic must be systematically and

thoroughly presented. Then, the specific instance of knowledge or content from a worldly source

should be compared to that doctrine. If the worldly knowledge can serve as a right and proper

application of Scripture in a specific instance, it is valid for Christian use. If, however, any of the

following are true, the knowledge must be rejected: (1) The worldly content redefines Scriptural

definitions of theological terms or concepts, (2) the worldly content provides extra definition to

Scriptural concepts that it claims are necessary to Christian living, or (3) the worldly content

speaks to new theological categories that are not explicitly taught by Scripture. Frame offers the

following additional advice; Scripture should always produce a “normative premise.”64 If the

worldly knowledge can be framed as a particular instance of that normative principle, scriptural

62 Mackintosh, The Bible: Its Sufficiency and Supremacy, Kindle, 128.

63 Ibid, 228-230.

64 Frame, The Doctrine of the Word of God, 230-231.

58

application may proceed, otherwise, the knowledge is in contradiction with Scripture.65 In

conclusion, the Bible is sufficient for knowledge of God, knowledge of man, knowledge of sin,

and knowledge of salvation. Going to any other source aside from Scripture for answers to these

questions will invariably lead to syncretism and false doctrine.

New Age Movement. NAM leaders hold to an open view of revelation, which leads

directly to the denial of the sufficiency of Scripture. New Age teachers view sources for doctrine

and spiritual practice through a pluralistic, syncretistic lens.66 This “revelational indeterminacy”

or “the belief that the truth may be revealed in diverse ways and through diverse agents” allows

the New Age adherent to forge his or her own path to spiritual awakening.67 New Age teachers

utilize the beliefs of “Sumerian, Indian, Egyptian, Chaldean, Babylonian, and Persian religious

practices.”68 They also syncretize with the major leaders and teachings of all of the major world

religions under the banner of Christ Consciousness. Each of these major teachers, Confucius,

Muhammad, Jesus, Moses, Zoroastrian, Maitreya, etc. are “manifestations of avatars,” and teach

aspects of truth about how humanity can attain divinity.69

Thus, rather than the sufficiency of Scripture, NAM leaders teach the utility of all forms

of knowledge in the universe. This knowledge can be found in any media (written, oral, or inner

experience) and from any source (human, spirit, or ritual). New Age truth is fundamentally

relativistic and pluralistic, given that it attempts to syncretize truth from multiple world religions.

65 Frame, The Doctrine of the Word of God, 230-231.


67 Ibid.

68 Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults, 407.

69 Benjamin Creme, The Reappearance of the Christ and the Masters of Wisdom (London, U.K.: Tara

Press, 1980), 30.

59

When approaching any New Age source, it is vital to understand that syncretization will be

present. Instead of attempting to see what is true from New Age sources, it is more pertinent to

assess what is wrong, or one could engage in syncretism. In conclusion, New Age views on

Scripture are that it is one source of truth among many and does not hold authority in the lives of

human beings.

Knowability of Revelation: Absolute Truth vs. Relativism/Perspectivalism

Christianity. The Judeo-Christian worldview holds that God has a universal perspective

on reality that is absolute, authoritative, and the standard by which all other perspectives are

judged.70 Rather than being a simple philosophical concept, God’s universal perspective takes

center stage in Scripture on multiple occasions. In the Book of Job, Job is tested based on his

adherence to a principle he thought was immutable and connected to the very nature of God:

righteousness brings reward and unrighteousness brings punishment.71 Thus, according to Job’s

perspective he either must have committed a sin unknowingly or that perhaps God is allowing

for injustice in Job’s case.72 In response to Job’s accusations, God gives a simple answer: “Who

is this who obscures My counsel with ignorant words? Get ready to answer Me like a man; when

I question you, you will inform Me. Where were you when I established the earth? Tell Me, if

70 Francis J. Beckwith and Gregory Koukl, Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air (Grand Rapids, MI:

Baker Books, 1998), 79-91. Total relativism is a self-defeating statement as it affirms the very premise it seeks to

deny: there is no such thing as absolute truth. This statement is itself an absolute, thus relativism fails. However, it is

more common for people to affirm a softer form of relativism called perspectivalism or multiculturalism, wherein

absolute truth can exist, but no one has access to it due to their finite nature and differing, limited perspectives. This

view fails on moral grounds as it becomes impossible to affirm morality in any meaningful sense. Additionally,

Christians have the right to logically assert that divine revelation is the ultimate, perfect, and absolute perspective

and that they have access to it as Scripture.

71 Job 6:28-30; 7:20-21.

72 Job 35:13-14.

60

you have understanding. Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know!”73 Compared to the

counsel and knowledge of God, humanity only has a limited and finite perspective. To claim any

ability to speak authoritatively from one’s own personal knowledge is hubris and can only lead

to folly. God’s claim to be dealing with Job justly is entirely based on His nature and character,

which includes His universal perspective on reality.

In the New Testament, Jesus dealt with similar accusations. For instance, in the Gospel of

John, Jesus’ disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born

blind?”74 Jesus’ response is strikingly similar to God’s response to Job. He said, “Neither this

man nor his parents sinned . . . This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in

him.”75 Again, there is a denial that the person deserved the suffering due to sin and an

affirmation of God’s universal perspective. God knew and designed the situation so that His

works would “be displayed.”76 Through the affirmation of God’s justice, sovereignty over

history, and creation events, the Bible affirms that God has an objective, absolute perspective on

reality. As such, belief in absolute truth is rooted in the very nature and character of God.

New Age Movement. The New Age Movement denies any understanding of the

existence of an absolute, objective perspective. This denial stems from the NAM understanding

of God and mankind. The Universal One Mind or god-force is not actually conscious nor

personal.77 It is something that people become aware of being connected to, that fills people up

73 Job 38:2-5.

74 John 9:2.

75 John 9:3.

76 Ibid.

77 Gawain, Creative Visualization, 28.

61

with life, light, and love, and that connects people to everything around them.78 However,

consciousness exists only at the level of individuals, thus all forms of consciousness and all

perspectives are limited and finite.79 It is important to understand that connection to the

Universal Mind does not give one omniscience nor ultimate knowledge, rather it gives one a

sense of awareness of others and a connection to those others.80 There is a continuous tug in the

New Age person’s mind between individual consciousness and collective consciousness. In other

words, the more aware one is of his or her connection to the Universal Mind, the less one is

aware of his or herself.81 Thus, in NAM theology, a universal perspective does not exist because

there is no individual who exists as the One Mind.

The relativist, perspectivalist views of the NAM are also reinforced by the dual goals of

NAM humanity: (1) becoming a “fully realized human being” and (2) creating one’s own

personal reality.82 The focus in NAM theology is on “accomplishing whatever [one] desire[s].”83

This is accomplished through asserting that one’s reality is completely independent of all other

individual’s realities. In doing this, one can simultaneously affirm others’ realities while also

asserting the supremacy of one’s own reality for oneself. This allows the New Age adherent to

determine his or her own path in a completely autonomous way. The NAM follower creates his

or her own morality, path to divinity, path to a utopian world, and path to fulfillment. In

78 Gawain, Creative Visualization.


80 Henry Reed, Edgar Cayce on Mysteries of the Mind (Detroit, MI: Aquarian Press, 1990), 54.


82 MacLaine, Dancing in the Light, 104.

83 Ibid.

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conclusion, NAM leaders teach that there is no one, universal perspective and each individual

must find the truth in his or her own perspective, resulting in a relativist view of truth.

Other Sources of Revelation: Scriptural Angelic Encounter vs. Spiritual Beings

Christianity. The Bible contains accounts of angelic encounters and displays remarkable

consistency concerning the “boundaries” of the encounters and what they accomplish. Hebrews

describes angels as “ministering spirits” who are “sent out” by God to “serve those who are

going to inherit salvation.”84 One of these services is the provision of God’s answers to prayer.

For instance, Daniel reports that “while I was praying, Gabriel . . . came to me in my extreme

weariness” to “give [me] understanding.”85 Gabriel also announced the forthcoming birth of the

Messiah to both Zechariah and Mary.86 In these cases, the angel acted as a spokesperson for God

and announced His decree and commands. In no way was the knowledge considered as having

an origin in the angel himself. In terms of praise, only God is in focus. In Mary’s jubilatory

response, she states that her “soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and [her] spirit has

rejoiced in God [her] Savior.”87

Angels also execute God’s commands concerning the safety of believers. For instance,

while the church was praying for Peter while he was in prison, an angel came to him, freed him,

and assisted in his escape. When Peter realized what was going on, he did not give the angel

credit for the deliverance, but rather, he exclaimed, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has

84 Hebrews 1:14.

85 Daniel 9:21-22.

86 Luke 1.

87 Luke 1:46-47

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sent His angel and rescued me.”88 Psalm 91:11 confirms God’s sending of angels to people in

times of trouble saying, “for He will give His angels orders concerning you, to protect you in all

your ways.”89 Angels also encourage believers as found in Acts where, on a particularly difficult

night for Paul, an angel came to him, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Paul. You must stand before

Caesar. And, look! God has graciously given you all those who are sailing with you.”90 In this

case, the angel’s encouragement took the form of reinforcing Paul’s belief in God’s sovereignty

and providence. Paul “must stand before Caesar,” thus God would see that he arrived at his

destination. In conclusion, the biblical portrayal of angelic encounters is that they are entirely

God-directed and God sent. Angels are provided primarily for believers’ protection and

encouragement, sometimes delivering messages on behalf of God Himself.

The Bible also recognizes the existence of fallen angels who mimic good angels by

“masquerad[ing] as an angel of light.”91 These fallen angels or demons are “prowling around like

a roaring lion, looking for anyone [they] can devour.”92 Aside from their ability to interact with

the real world through inflicting sickness and disease, bequeathing of supernatural strength, and

causing torment, demons have two primary goals with regard to spirituality.93 First, they actively

attempt to prevent the gospel from taking root in a person’s heart: “The seed along the path are

those who have heard, and then, the Devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so

88 Acts 12:5-11.

89 Psalm 91:11.

90 Acts 27:23-24.

91 2 Corinthians 11:14 (NIV).

92 1 Peter 5:8.

93 Job 2:7; Mark 9:25; Revelation 9:1-11; Luke 113:11-17; Luke 8:29.

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they may not believe and be saved.”94 This action alone should give everyone great pause when

interacting with the spiritual realm, as it may have eternal consequences.

Second, demons lie; “there is no truth” in the demonic realm, and when they speak, they

“speak[] from [their] own nature” as “a liar and the father of liars.”95 These lies often come in the

form of false doctrine. Paul warns about this saying, “the Spirit explicitly says that in later times

some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of

demons.”96 These deceits are not necessarily easy to denounce as demons can potentially offer

false knowledge as found by those who consult either “the spirits of the dead” or spirits in

general.97 In conclusion, demons will do everything in their power to prevent salvation and

spread false doctrine. Believers must be particularly on guard as their deceits come under the

guise of good angels and potentially with hidden knowledge. In order to defend against these

deceptions, believers are encouraged to “dwell” on “whatever is true . . . honorable . . . just . . .

pure . . . lovely . . . and commendable.”98 Through the “renewing of your mind” believers will be

able to “discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”99 In conclusion, God

provides angelic encounters to mankind to deliver His message and to protect them. People are

not to seek out angelic encounters and are to be cautious because demons will mimic angels in

order to thwart the gospel and spread false doctrine.

94 Luke 8:12.

95 John 8:44.

96 1 Timothy 4:1.

97 Isaiah 8:19-20.

98 Philippians 4:8.

99 Romans 12:1-2.

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New Age Movement. The New Age Movement does not believe in the biblical concept

of angels and demons. Rather, NAM leaders assert a wide variety of beliefs that are not

systematic, nor unified. For instance, NAM author, Chris Griscom, describes the spiritual realm

as including “many levels of guides, entities, energies, and beings in every octave of the

universe.”100 These levels of guides are tied to specific harmonic frequencies of the divine

“Thought of God,” thus they are more extensions of the god-force rather than independent beings

with a “free will.”101 These beings are typically portrayed as good, and they exist to “serve the

Will of God as it operates harmoniously through the Divine Law.”102 Another name for this law

is the law of “attraction/repulsion” that dominates much of New Age thinking; these entities

assist humans in realizing and utilizing this law to recreate their own realities.103 Other New Age

teachers view these spirits more along the line of primal forces or “elementals.”104 In this

paradigm, spirits resemble mythical “nymphs or dryads or sylphs or gnomes,” whom people can

“catch” to tap into their “eternal, awesome, potent, and far wiser” nature.105

The fundamental purpose of these spiritual encounters is to gain “spiritual understanding”

through “experience.”106 Esoteric or occult knowledge is the goal in seeking out these spiritual

100 Chris Griscom, Ecstasy Is a New Frequency: Teachings of the Light Institute (New York City, NY:

Simon and Schuster, 1987), 82.

101 George Trevelyan, Operation Redemption: A Vision of Hope in an Age of Turmoil (Walpole, NH:

Stillpoint Publishing, 1985), 61.

102 Ibid.

103 Griscom, Ecstasy Is a New Frequency: Teachings of the Light Institute, 82.

104 Martin Green, A Witch Alone: Thirteen Moons to Master Natureal Magic (Wellingborough, U.K.:

Aquarian Press, 1991), 83.

105 Ibid, 83-84.


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encounters. One of the primary ways in which people are able to contact these spirits is through

channeling, whereby a person invites the spirit to inhabit his or her body, and then, allows the

spirit to speak and act through his or her body.107 These interactions are often accompanied by

teachings such as the truth of “reincarnation” and gaining new abilities like “astral projection.”108

In conclusion, the New Age view of spiritual encounters is overwhelmingly positive. They

affirm that it is proper for people to seek out these encounters and that through them people can

ascend to higher levels of consciousness.

Revelation Criteria

Table 3.1 Revelation Criteria

Criterion

Number

Criterion Description Christian Teaching New Age Movement

Teaching

1 Form of authoritative

revelation

Propositional

revelation (Scripture)

New consciousness

(spiritual

enlightenment)

2 God’s ability to speak God can speak

authoritatively

through prophesy and

Scripture to mankind

God is impersonal

and cannot speak

with mankind;

mankind becomes

aware of divine

essence

107 Ankerberg and Weldon, Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs, 80.

108 Jane Roberts, The Seth Material (New York City, NY: Bantam Books, 1976), 3-5.

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3 Changeability of God’s

speech

God’s written word

cannot change

People’s

consciousness and

knowledge of god is

always changing

4 Spiritual beings Angels are God’s

servants; demons are

evil angels who are in

rebellion against God

Spirits are generally

good and in their own

process of evolution

5 Angelic contact Angels are sent by

God; they are not to

be contacted by

humans

Spirits are to be

contacted directly by

people

6 Spiritual beings: work Angels protect people

and deliver God’s

messages to people;

demons physically

harm people, attempt

to thwart the gospel,

and teach false

doctrine

Spiritual beings assist

people in attaining

consciousness of their

divinity, teach new

doctrine, and show

humans how to

manipulate the

physical world

7 Sufficiency of revelation Scripture is sufficient

for the knowledge of

God and God’s

Further revelation

through prophesy or

channeling is

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redemptive plan for

humanity

required to attain

divine consciousness

8 View of truth Absolute truth exists

and is knowable

because God’s view

of reality is complete

and authoritative; He

communicated truth

to humanity through

His word

Absolute truth does

not exist because the

universal mind in

impersonal and does

not have a

perspective of its

own; thus, each

individual person’s

perspective, though

relativistic, is

authoritative for him

or herself

9 Word of God The Bible is identical

to the word of God

and thus is true and

authoritative

Man’s words are

divine words and thus

create reality

10 Divine authority The apostolic-

prophetic

commission was

given by Jesus to

specific individuals to

Awareness of one’s

Christ consciousness

gives individuals the

authority and power

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write the derivative

word of God

to speak what they

want into being

11 Power of human words

and thought

Human words have

no inherent

supernatural power

Human words have

supernatural power to

create, heal, and

destroy

Doctrines Concerning God and Creation

Transcendence

Christianity. One of the Bible’s most recurring and pervasive statements about God is

that God is separate from and superior to Creation.109 The Creator/Creation distinction is

affirmed from the very first verse of Genesis which states that “In the beginning, God created the

heavens and the earth.”110 The focus of the passage is on God as the “autonomous Creator” of all

that exists, and as such, “He is antecedent to it” and “distinct from it.”111 The rest of the chapter

goes through the major groupings of created things from inanimate objects to plant life to animal

life and finally ending with the creation of humanity. At each instance of creation, no other being

partnered with God in the act of creation, as God brought each thing into being though His Word

109 Millard Erickson, Christian Theology, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013), Kindle,

6217.

110 Genesis 1:1.

111 Mathews, Genesis 1-11:26, vol. 1A, Kindle, 2702-2719.

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alone. Thus, not only is He separate from Creation, but He maintains His authority and

sovereignty over it.112

There are also many sections of Scripture that act as polemics against false gods by

demonstrating that, unlike false gods, the God of the Bible is not part of Creation. For instance,

Isaiah 44:9-20 is an extended treatise on the inability of idols fashioned by human hands to

actually serve as gods. Isaiah remarks that people who worship a created thing “cannot see” that

when they worship a carven image, they are also worshiping the thing that they use to start their

cooking fires. He even goes so far as to say that idolaters never consider whether or not they

should “fall down before a block of wood.” Additionally, Psalm 113:5-6 affirms both God’s

separateness and His superiority to creation at the same time stating: “Who is like Yahweh our

God—the One enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?”113

One of the best dialogues man has with God on transcendence comes from the end of the

book of Job. In Job 38-39, God claims to have “established the earth” and “fixed its

dimensions.”114 He asserts the He “commanded the morning,” “assigned the dawn its place,” has

the power to “fasten the chains of the Pleiades,” and “loosen the belt of Orion.”115 On the

microscale, He also claims a level of sovereignty that includes providing “the raven’s food” and

allowing “the hawk [to] take flight by [His] understanding.”116 These verses indicate a level of

creation and control that goes from the creation of all physical matter, to the creation of the laws

112 Mathews, Genesis 1-11:26, Kindle, 2717.

113 Psalm 113:5-6.

114 Job 38:4-5.

115 Job 38: 12,31.

116 Job 38:41; 39:26.

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of physics and even the creation of the behavior of living things. The God of the Bible is the God

who “know[s] the laws of heaven” and “impose[s] its authority on earth.”117 Even for mankind,

the height and pinnacle of Creation, there is only one response to an encounter with such a

transcendent God: “I am so insignificant. How can I answer You?”118 The God of Christianity is

transcendent to such an extent that apart from divine revelation He cannot be known.

There have been many models of God’s transcendence presented throughout Christian

history. Traditionally, God’s transcendence has been designated by His being “higher,” “above,”

and “high and lifted up.”119 In the ancient world, these terms conveyed a real sense of God being

truly above mankind and existing in places mankind could not reach. However, in the modern

era, with technological advances like spacecraft and astronomy, it is “difficult if not impossible”

to think about God’s transcendence in these terms alone. Many theologians have attempted to

develop new models to overcome these semantic difficulties.

Karl Barth’s attempt at a solution was through emphasizing God’s complete otherness

with respect to humanity; there is no overlap between God and humanity, nor between God and

Creation of any kind.120 In Barthian theology, God is unreachable by mankind in any way, shape,

or form.121 He fundamentally denies the ability of natural theology to convey the truth about God

117 Job 38:43.

118 Job 40:4.

119 Erickson, Christian Theology, Kindle, 6230.

120 Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics 3.2, ed. G.W. Bromiley and T.F. Torrance (London, U.K.: T&T Clark,

2009), 132.

121 Karl Barth, Der Romerbrief: Abdruck Der Neuen Bearbeitung (Zurich, DE: E. V. Z. Verlag, 1967), 11.

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and argues that divine revelation is the only source of knowledge about God.122 While his denial

of the possibility of any understanding of God through natural revelation and Creation may be

slightly overzealous, his depiction of God as wholly other is very helpful in comprehending

God’s transcendence.123

Another way theologians have chosen to represent God’s transcendence is through an

appeal to God’s eternality. Augustine argues that time is a created thing, and thus, God is not

subject to it.124 Thus, when Scripture claims that God is “The Alpha and Omega, the First and the

Last, the Beginning and the End,” it is a claim to being over and above Creation from a temporal

sense; “from the divine point of view, end-times events are impending.”125 God is sovereign over

history and cannot be affected by Creation as He has guaranteed that He will accomplish His

“eternal purpose.”126This understanding of transcendence presents God as having such a degree

of sovereignty over Creation and history that He can only have effects on it and it cannot have

effects on Him. In conclusion, Christian transcendence holds that God and Creation are

ontologically distinct subjects.

New Age Movement. The New Age Movement fundamentally denies any idea of God’s

transcendence. Rather, the New Age Movement embraces the idea that God and Creation are one


2009), 130.

123 The aforementioned theological standpoints are Barth’s theology as found in his earlier works and

Church Dogmatics. As Barth wrote extensively, he modified and softened his positions in later works.

124 Augustine, The Confessions of Saint Augustine, trans. Edward Pusey (Digireads.com Publishing, 2009),

327.

125 John Walvoord, Revelation, The John Walvoord Prophecy Commentaries (Chicago, IL: Moody

Publishers, 2011), Kindle, 5568; Revelation 22:13.

126 Ephesians 3:11

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substance. Those who hold to New Age beliefs assert that “the Cosmos is seen as a pure,

undifferentiated, universal, energy-interconnected process.”127 This topic will be discussed

further under the section entitled “Immanence.” However, there are a few points to note about

the New Age Movement’s understanding of perceived transcendence that merit discussion. First,

in their doctrine of ignorance, New Age leaders acknowledge that people perceive God as being

transcendent. For example, in the popular New Age training document, A Course in Miracles,

Helen Shucman asserts that the ego or self is “idolatry” and must be abandoned in order to

“know reality.”128 Thus, humanity carries with it an inherent level of ignorance concerning the

truth of the lack of God’s transcendence.

Second, the denial of transcendence is also born of the New Age desire to “avoid

dualistic concepts.”129 Transcendence by its very definition promotes the distinctions of

self/other, Creation/Creator, human/divine.130 New Age teachers, like Eckhart Tolle, argue that

“only Spirit can recognize Spirit,” and that to deny the lack of distinctions reflects a denial of “a

new consciousness” —which is integral to New Age philosophy.131 In her analysis of several

New Age books, Mary Bednarowski, demonstrated that the denial of the transcendence of the

divine was one of the five fundamental themes that New Age teachers agreed on and was


128 Helen Schucman, A Course in Miracles (Public Domain, 2007), accessed June 5, 2020,

http://stobblehouse.com/text/ACIM.pdf, 761.

129 John Saliba, Christian Responses to the New Age Movement: A Critical Assessment (New York City,

NY: Geoffrey Chapman, 1999), 26.

130 Ibid.

131 Eckhart Tolle, Oneness with All Life: Inspirational Selections from A New Earth (New York City, NY:

Penguin Books, 2008), n.p.

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required for the assertion that humanity can evolve in its consciousness.132 In conclusion, a

transcendent God is completely rejected by New Age leaders and is contrary to their theological

convictions.

Immanence

Christianity. The Bible presents three ways in which God is immanent (present and

active) in Creation: (1) presence in and sovereignty over nature, (2) interaction with humanity,

and (3) omniscient knowledge of and sovereignty over history.133 First, God is present in and

throughout the universe but is not Himself the universe. Jeremiah 23:24 states “‘Can a man hide

himself in secret places where I cannot see him?’—the Lord’s declaration. ‘Do I not fill the

heavens and the earth?’—the Lord’s declaration.”134 Verses like this do a good job at explaining

that God can fill and be omnipresent throughout the universe without being one with the

universe. Psalm 104 also indicates that God is immanent to literally every particle of creation, as

without God’s constant sustenance it would fall apart and people would “return to the dust.”135 In

Job 38-39, God presents Himself as being in complete control of nature, citing specific control

over “lightening,” “wind,” and “rain.”136 In Matthew 6, Jesus communicates the idea that God is

not only present in nature but God tends to it lovingly. He states that “God clothes the grass of

the field” with more “splendor” than He did “Solomon.”137

132 Mary Bednarowski, “Literature of the New Age: A Review of Representative Sources,” Religious

Studies Review 17, no. 3 (1991): 209–216.

133 Erickson, Christian Theology, Kindle, 6032.

134 Jeremiah 23:24.

135 Psalm 104:29-30.

136 Job 38-39

137 Matthew 6:29-30

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Second, God is also intimately involved with mankind by communicating through His

Word. This is often indicated throughout Scripture with the statement “the word of the Lord

came to me, saying.”138 This statement affirms that what comes from the Prophet are the very

words of God, and thus, they have and assert authority over mankind.139 God also interacts with

humanity through the Incarnation of the Son. John lays out Jesus’ Incarnation in this way “the

Word became flesh and took up residence among us . . . we observed His glory, the glory as the

One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”140 Through the Word of God, both

incarnate and written, God interacts with humanity on a regular basis.

Third, God also displays immanence through His rule and command of history. For

instance, Daniel writes that God “changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and

establishes kings.”141 Similarly, God delivers divine judgment through the restriction of divine

providence or through invading nations: “The Lord God of Hosts is about to remove from

Jerusalem and from Judah every kind of security” and “Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger—

the staff in their hands is My wrath . . . I will send him against a godless nation.142 Finally, it is

also important to note that at the heart of God’s immanence in history is the fact that “He chose

us in Him, before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.” The God of

Christianity is also sovereign over and immanent in the salvation of His people.

138 Jeremiah 1:4.

139 Geerhardus Vos, ed., The Self-Disclosure of Jesus: The Modern Debate about the Messianic

Consciousness (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2002), 18.

140 John 1:14.

141 Daniel 2:21.

142 Isaiah 3:1.

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Theologically, God’s spatial immanence has been best represented through the doctrine

of repletive omnipresence. Reformed theologian, William G. T. Shedd, states that “divine

omnipresence means the presence of all things to God, rather than God’s presence to all

things.”143 Similarly, Anselm in Proslogion argues that “although nothing exists without thee,

nevertheless dost not exist in space or time, but all things exist in thee. For nothing contains thee,

but thou containest all.”144 With such a high degree of immanence, it was vital that these

theologians also guarded against pantheism and panentheism. Shedd does this in his definition of

God’s spirituality where he asserts that God has no physical body and that He “is of an essence

whose spirituality transcends that of all other spirits—human, angelic, or archangelic.”145 Thus,

in Shedd’s theology, God cannot be Creation because He is wholly different that Creation.

Anselm dealt with panentheism and panentheism through his development of the ontological

argument. He argued in Chapter 22 of the Proslogion where he argues that “He alone is what He

is and who He is” which precludes any mixing of God and Creation.146 Thus, these theologians

teach that all of Creation encounters the fullness of divinity at every instance of existence, and

that there is no part of existence to which the fullness of God is not present; yet, God is not

Creation.

Theological debate over God’s immanence through the Incarnation and Scripture has

been a prominent part Christianity’s history; however, there are two points of comment that are

directly relevant to the comparison with New Age philosophy. First, traditional Christianity has

143 William G. T. Shedd, Dogmatic Theology, ed. Alan Gomes, 3rd ed. (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing,

2003), Kindle, 8543.

144 Anselm, Proslogion (Public Domain, n.d.), 19.

145 Shedd, Dogmatic Theology, Kindle, 4696.

146 Anselm, Proslogion, 22.

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affirmed that the union of the Incarnation is hypostatic: it is a “personal union” by which “God

united himself with man” without changing “Himself into man.”147 Thus the transcendence of

God is fully maintained. Second, traditional Christianity holds that the Word of God is Scripture

over and against theologies that affirm that Scripture is a book of human origin. In conclusion,

Christians hold that God’s immanence is exhibited in his sovereignty over creation, through his

speech to mankind, through the hypostatic union of the Son, and through all things being present

to the fullness of Himself.

New Age Movement. The New Age Movement holds that Creation and God are

immanent to the degree of ontological identity. For example, in his book, No Boundary, New

Age teacher, Ken Wilber, states that we must view ourselves and the world as “one harmonious

whole” through “no-boundary awareness.”148 Under this view, Ken Wilber and other New Age

teachers affirm that there is no difference between “inside and outside, self and other . . .

organism and environment.”149 In New Age thinking, the Cosmos is divine, and everything is a

part of the Cosmos. At its core, the New Age Movement affirms a hybrid form of pantheism and

panentheism. In terms of ontology of essence, NAM is pantheist. Its leaders hold to a unity of

substance that decries any divisions. However, it is important to know that in terms of

consciousness they affirm a specialized form of panentheism.150


148 Ken Wilber, No Boundary: Eastern and Western Approaches to Personal Growth (Boston, MA:

Shambhala Publications, 2001), n.p.

149 Bednarowski, “Literature of the New Age: A Review of Representative Sources, 213”

150 John Cooper, Panentheism: The Other God of the Philosophers: From Plato to the Present (Grand

Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006), Kindle, 289. The modern versions of panentheism as espoused by leaders in

the New Age Movement and Christian panentheists is the latest iteration in a line of panentheist thinking that dates

back to the time of Plato. There is surprising overlap with modern and ancient thinkers as they both espouse the

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Even though all substance is unified, the specific part of the substance known as spirit

must undergo its own transformation or evolution into understanding its true divine nature. For

example, in the compilation volume, What Is Enlightenment?, fourteen different and prominent

New Age teachers all affirm that those who seek New Age enlightenment seek “what we already

are in essence—Being, the ultimate wholeness that is the source and ground of all Becoming . . .

Enlightenment is realization of the truth of Being.”151 Thus, for New Age Movement adherents,

God’s immanence is more than God’s interaction and care of the world as orthodox Christianity

teaches. Rather, it is the idea that people are the world, people are God, and people ultimately

control the universe through an enlightened higher consciousness.

Immutability

Christianity. There are few doctrines that are under as heavy attack in contemporary

Christianity as the immutability of God.152 However, the biblical basis for immutability is

existence of the God-Mind and the “World Soul.” These reflect the idea that God is incarnate in the entire known

universe.

151 John White, What Is Enlightenment?: Exploring the Goal of the Spiritual Path (St. Paul, MN: Paragon

House, 1995), n.p.

152 Paul Helm, “Divine Timeless Eternity,” in God and Time: Four Views, ed. Gregory Ganssle (Downers

Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001), 28. The attacks against the doctrine of the immutability of God come in the

following forms: 1. Attacks against the immutability of God’s knowledge, 2. Attacks against the immutability of

God’s decree and action, and 3. Attacks against God’s immutability of nature. The attacks against God’s immutable

knowledge come in the form of Open Theism which reinterprets God’s omniscience to exclude events which are

part of reality, but open to change. Thus, God’s knowledge changes/increases as history moves forward in time. The

following is a brief list of the major works that defend this view: 1. Clark H. Pinnock, Richard Rice, John Sanders,

William Hasker, and David Basinger, The Openness of God, 2. Gregory Boyd, God of the Possible: A Biblical

Introduction to the Open View of God, 3. John Sanders, The God Who Risks: A Theology of Providence, 4. Clark

Pinnock, Most Moved Mover: A Theology of God’s Openness, and 5. Richard Rice, The Future of Open Theism. The

attacks against the immutability of God’s decree and action are summarized in the denial of divine impassibility.

The general assertion of this doctrine is that God can be affected by Creation to some extent and that these

interactions can change God’s mind or decree. The following is a brief list of contemporary theologians and books

who advocate for some form of divine possibility: 1. John C. Peckham, Divine Attributes: Knowing the Covenantal

God of Scripture, 2. Thomas Jay Oord, The Uncontrolling Love of God: An Open and Relational Account of

Providence, and 3. Karen Winslow, Relational Theology: A Contemporary Introduction. The third type of attack is

one which would typically place the proponent outside of evangelical Christianity, but they are starting to become

acceptable. This view holds that God’s very nature and character are mutable, He can and has changed. Some of the

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substantial. In general, God’s immutability is affirmed through verses which argue that He does

not change. Malachi 3:6 states, “Because I, Yahweh, have not changed, you descendants of

Jacob have not been destroyed.”153 Similarly, Psalm 102:26 states, “They will perish, but You

will endure.”154 It is important to note that some of these verses like Malachi, link God’s

immutability to the continued existence of Israel. The reason for this is to reassure the people of

Israel that no matter what happens they will not be destroyed because God is immutable and will

not change His mind about them.

Additionally, God’s counsel and decree are also immutable. Isaiah 46:10 states that “I

declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago what is not yet done,” indicating that the

entirety of history has been ordained by God.155 Psalms asserts that “The counsel of the Lord

stands forever, the plans of His heart from generation to generation.”156 The New Testament also

affirms God’s immutability in counsel in Hebrews which states, “Because God wanted to show

His unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with

an oath.”157

Of special note is that in the New Testament, Jesus Christ is said to be “the same

yesterday, today, and forever.”158 One of the theological heresies that circulated the early church,

key books promoting this belief are: 1. Richard Rohr, Universal Christ, 2. Philip Clayton “God and World” in Kevin

Vanhoozer’s Postmodern Theology, and 3. Bruce Epperly, Process Theology.

153 Malachi 3:6.

154 Psalm 102:26.

155 Isaiah 46:10.

156 Psalm 33:11.

157 Hebrews 6:17

158 James 1:17.

80

Arianism, was that the Incarnation either changed God or that Jesus Christ was not eternal.159

Hebrews affirms against this heresy that Jesus is divine, eternal, unchanging, and identical with

God as only God can be immutable.160 It also acts as an assurance that the Incarnation did not

affect God’s immutability.

Theologically, it is important to define exactly how and why God must be immutable.

First, God’s immutability is a necessary corollary from the fact that “His being is from Himself

and not from another.”161 Thus, He can only be what He is and cannot become better nor get

worse than He is.162 Additionally, behind all ontological change is “dependence upon another,”

and assumes that the being that is changing is in some way not perfect or incomplete.163 Both of

these are directly denounced by Scripture.164

Aquinas defends God’s immutability from a more philosophical perspective. He argues

that God as the “first being” must be “pure act.”165 In other words, God must be a being who is

eternal in action and completely without potentiality, or He would need an external cause to

convert His latent potentiality into action. Thus, Aquinas states that God is immutable since he

has no potentiality.166 Additionally, Aquinas remarks that God has “no composition” or parts,

159 Justin Holcomb, Know the Heretics, Know Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014), 87.

160 See Hebrews 1.


162 Ibid.


164 Matthew 5:48; Isaiah 40:13-14.

165 Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae (Public Domain, n.d.), 1.9.

166 Ibid.

81

thus God cannot be acted upon in such a way as a part is moved, or changed, or altered.167 In this

way, Aquinas also derives immutability from the doctrine of simplicity. God is not a thing that

can be defined in finite, particular terms; thus, He is beyond the bounds of change. Finally,

Aquinas utilizes God’s infinitude to derive immutability. He argues that “everything which is

moved acquires something by its movement, and attains to what it had not attained

previously.”168 However, due to God’s infinite nature, it is impossible for anything to be

acquired, added, or taken away from God, thus “movement in no way belongs to Him,” and He

is immutable.169

However, it is important to make a distinction between changes in ontology, knowledge,

will, and purpose versus changes that result from action and relational changes such as the

Incarnation. For God to change in ontology, knowledge, will, or purpose, He would have to

either become better or worse than his previous self. However, Christian philosopher Thomas

Morris argues that some types of change are “value-neutral” and do not “necessitate an increase

or a decrease in [one’s] intrinsic value or metaphysical stature.”170 Changes of this type are

required as a product of time. For instance, there is a difference between God prior to the

formation of mankind and posterior to the formation of mankind—the difference being the

actualization of the creative act.171 Similarly, there is a difference between God prior to and

posterior to the incarnation. Before the incarnation, God was not in relational union with

167 Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, 1.9.

168 Ibid.

169 Ibid.

170 Thomas Morris, Our Idea of God: An Introduction to Philosophical Theology (Downers Grove, IL:

InterVarsity Press, 1991), 127.

171 Ibid, 128.

82

mankind, after the incarnation, the Son was in relational union with mankind. However, these

changes do not affect the nature and character of God, thus they are value-neutral and within the

realm of orthodoxy.

Finally, though also under heavy attack, the related doctrine of impassibility has also

been held by traditional theologians.172 For example, Clement of Alexandria said that “God is

impassible, free of anger, destitute of desire… so as to rule over desires.”173 Similarly, Augustine

argues that the depictions of passion in God in the Old Testament are anthropomorphic and God

is “jealous without any darkening of spirit, angry without any perturbation, pitiful without any

pain, [and] repents… without any wrongness in Him to be set right.”174 In conclusion, traditional

Christianity holds to the beliefs that God does not change ontologically, nor in purpose and will.

New Age Movement. Teachers within the New Age Movement fundamentally deny that

God is impassible; this is a natural corollary of their doctrine of monism and pantheism.

Fundamental to the New Age Movement is the idea of “spiritual evolution” whereby people

undergo “countless existences on this planet as well as in an infinity of other dimensions” in an

effort to attain to higher states of consciousness.175 Thus, as New Age adherents grow spiritually,

God grows spiritually.

172 John Piper, Justin Taylor, and Paul Helseth, eds., Beyond the Bounds: Open Theism and the

Undermining of Biblical Christianity (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2003), 790.

173 Clement of Alexandria, “The Stromata,” in Fathers of the Second Century: Hermas, Tatian,

Athenagoras, Theophilus, and Clement of Alexandria, ed. Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland

Coxe, vol. 2 (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1885), 437.

174 Augustine of Hippo, “On Patience,” in St. Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral

Treatises, ed. Philip Schaff, trans. H. Browne, vol. 3, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the

Christian Church, First Series (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1887), 1.

175 Wouter Hanegraaff, “New Age Spiritualities as Secular Religion: A Historian’s Perspective,” Social

Compass 46, no. 2 (1999): 150.

83

New Age leaders also deny immutability by arguing that god can be directly affected by

the material realm. New Age adherents rely heavily on “transformative technologies” to help

them attain higher levels of divine actualization.176 These include a heavy emphasis on the

discoveries made in physics regarding relativity and the fields of neuroscience and

psychology.177 Additionally, these technologies are also derived from ancient mystical

experiences and include the use of crystals to manipulate the spiritual realm, the use of yoga to

induce mystical states, and muscle testing to impact one’s aura or chi.178

One important result of the denial of immutability coupled with the affirmation of total

pantheism is that people can fundamentally create and live in their own reality. Shirly MacLaine

affirmed that she “created [her] own reality in every way,” and “was the only person alive in

[her] universe.”179 The denial of immutability allows the New Age adherent to live in a universe

of his or her own making and continually change that universe to fit his or her momentary

whims. This is directly connected to the New Age metaphysics of the law of attraction which

states that one can receive what one desires by willing it into being.180 In conclusion, the New

Age Movement completely rejects the concepts of divine impassibility and divine immutability

along with the distinctions they create.

176 Ferguson, The Aquarian Conspiracy: Personal and Social Transformation in Our Time, 398.

177 Ibid, 152.

178 Ankerberg and Weldon, Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs, v.

179 Shirley MacLaine, It’s All in the Playing (Toronto, ON: Bantam Books, 1987), 171-173.

180 Ralph Waldo Trine, In Tune with the Infinite (Rockville, MD: Arc Manor, 2009), 135.

84

Trinity (Tri-Personality of God; Oneness of Essence)

Christianity. The Doctrine of the Trinity is one of the fundamental doctrines that

separates Christianity from the world religions and from the various Christian cults or sects that

have come about throughout its 2,000-year history.181 In order to demonstrate the Trinity in the

Bible, theologians have typically focused on finding verses that affirm the distinct personhood of

each of the members as well as the essential oneness of each of the members. For instance, the

Great Commission is a perfect example of the oneness of all three members: “Go, therefore, and

make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the

Holy Spirit.”182 This verse represents the full revelation of the covenant name of God in concert

with the command to go and spread the news of the “New Covenant in Christ;” this name is “the

one name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”183 There is no question from these verses

that the three members of the Trinity are both distinct persons and “on an equal footing” even

sharing “in the one being of God.”184

The Upper Room Discourse found in John 14 is also replete with Trinitarian distinction.

For example, Jesus says that “I will ask the Father and He will give you another Counselor to be

with you forever . . . He is the Spirit of truth.”185 This demonstrates that between the Father, Son,

and Holy Spirit there is real communication occurring and real relational distinction. Later on,

Jesus reiterates His own position in the sending of the Holy Spirit: “But the Counselor, the Holy

181 Malcolm Yarnell III, God The Trinity (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2016), Kindle, 188.

182 Matthew 28:19.

183 Robert Letham, The Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R

Publishing, 2004), Kindle, 1288.

184 Ibid.

185 John 14:16-17.

85

Spirit—the Father will send Him in My name—will teach you all things and remind you of

everything I have told you.” For the Father to send the Holy Spirit in someone else’s name, and

not His alone, would be blasphemous; it would be tantamount to allowing someone else to be the

God of the universe. The only way for this statement to work is for the Father and the Son,

minimally, to share the same name. These represent a small selection of the verses that can be

used in defense of the doctrine of the Trinity.

Theologically, the doctrine of the Trinity has been represented in two dominant ways.

First, the immanent, essential, or ontological Trinity refers to a series of declarations about “who

God is within Godself.”186 Ontological descriptions of the Trinity focus on the unity of the being

of God. For instance, the divine attributes of omniscience, eternality, and aseity are held in full

by all persons of the Trinity as they constitute the nature of God’s essence. However, the

economic depictions of the Trinity focus on the distinctions of the persons of the Trinity in role

and mode. This does not split up actions of God between the persons of the Trinity. John 5:19

states “I assure you: The Son is not able to do anything on His own, but only what He sees the

Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does these things in the same way.”

Thus, all of the actions of God are accomplished by God in His entirety. However, Scripture

does indicate through the Trinitarian persons that each member of the Trinity participates in the

divine action differently. For example, in salvation, God the Father is the one who sent the Son,

and without Him, the plan of salvation would not have been enacted. However, it was only the

Son, the second person of the Trinity who made the atoning sacrifice on the cross. Additionally,

it is the Holy Spirit who effects the spiritual regeneration in mankind.

186 Yarnell III, God The Trinity, Kindle, 794.

86

Historically, the Council of Chalcedon and the Council of Nicaea were pivotal in defining

key doctrines of the Trinity. The creed that came out of Nicaea entrenched Trinitarianism as the

orthodox doctrine of the Christian Church, but the exact nature of Jesus’ relationship to God was

still uncertain. At Chalcedon, Jesus’ two natures (divine and human) were defended as being

united in one person who was “truly God and truly man.” This definition solidified Jesus’

standing as the second person of the Trinity while also maintaining his full humanity.

After the Reformation, theologians like W. G. T. Shedd argued that any true God must be

a Trinity by necessity. The argument goes that God could only have “consciousness” by contact

with an “other,” as “personality does not develop nor exist in isolation.”187 However, one “other”

is not enough to establish God, as two “others” would be unable to see that they are the same

being. To solve this issue, any true, personal God requires a third person by which the other two

persons recognize themselves as one being.188

Additionally, throughout history, theologians have denounced various unorthodox ways

of understanding God’s triune nature. For instance, in arguing against the Arians, who believed

that the Trinity is not representative of God in eternity, Athanasius argued that “if God be Maker

and Creator, and create His works through the Son, and we cannot regard things which come to

be, except as being through the Word, is it not blasphemous, God being Maker, to say, that His

Framing Word and His Wisdom once was not?”189 Athanasius argued that from Genesis 1’s

creation account that God the Father, God the Son/Word, and God the Wisdom/Holy Spirit are

187 Berkhof, Systematic Theology, Kindle, 1495.


189 Athanasius, Discourse 1 Against the Arians (Public Domain, n.d.), accessed June 7, 2020,

https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/28161.htm, 17.

87

inseparable in the creation act and thus cannot be created beings themselves. His statement of the

Trinity reflects both the persons and the one essential nature: “there is an eternal and one

Godhead in a Triad, and there is one Glory of the Holy Triad.”190 In Athanasius’s view, any

glory due one member of the Trinity was also glory to the other members. In conclusion, though

the doctrine of the Trinity has been disputed and its complexities not fully explored, it is the

biblical, orthodox understanding of God in Christianity.

New Age Movement. The New Age Movement fundamentally denies the existence of a

transcendent Trinity. As stated in earlier sections, the idea of universal oneness is fundamental to

New Age philosophy.191 However, in destroying the personhood of God, New Age adherents

also reject the personhood of the individual as “ultimately there is no difference between God, a

person, a carrot or a rock.”192 Fritjof Capra states that the best understanding of God is one “in

which all boundaries and dualisms have been transcended and all individuality dissolves into

universal, undifferentiated oneness.”193 Thus, while New Age proponents adhere to the oneness

of God, they do not recognize any distinction in God. This leads to a fundamental denial of

distinctions between anything.

Concerning Jesus, the New Age Movement draws a hard line between “the Jesus of

history and the Christ of faith.”194 The New Age Movement sees Jesus as “a great prophetic

190 Athanasius, Discourse 1 Against the Arians, 18.

191 Douglas Groothuis, Unmasking the New Age: Is There a New Religious Movement Trying to Transform

Society? (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1986), 18.

192 Ibid.

193 Fritjof Capra, The Turning Point (New York City, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1982), 371.

194 Saliba, Christian Responses to the New Age Movement: A Critical Assessment, 198.

88

figure, a learned saint, who is to be numbered among the world’s great religious leaders.”195 But

in no uncertain terms is Jesus either ontologically the Christ or the second member of the Trinity

of the Christian God. For example, Richard Rohr argues that “although Jesus was clearly of the

masculine gender, the Christ is beyond gender.”196 This bifurcation of Jesus and Christ is central

to New Age philosophies which emphasize that “Christ” is a “consciousness” that all people can

obtain.197 In New Age theology, Christ is not the second person of the Trinity, nor is He even a

person, rather Christ Consciousness is an attribute which people can attain.

New Age leaders, like Edgar Cayce, argued that God is “an impersonal force or energy”

whose major work is “by the application of the God-force within to mete it out to others.”198 In

this framework, God is a force that seeks to either replicate itself or cause awakening of itself in

the minds of human beings. To the New Age mind, god being personal occurs when one

becomes “aware of thyself being thyself, yet one with Him.”199 Thus, in New Age theology, god

is not a Trinity, nor is he even personal. Rather, god is an impersonal force that seeks to

impersonally create awareness of itself in the minds of mankind.

Jesus as the Unique Messiah

Christianity. Central to all major branches of Christianity is the idea that Jesus is the one

and only Christ/Messiah of God. There are a number of ways that Scripture declares the

195 Saliba, Christian Responses to the New Age Movement: A Critical Assessment, 201.

196 Richard Rohr, The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope

for, and Believe (New York City, NY: Convergent, 2019), Kindle, 1716.


198 James Brown, Give God a Chance: Christian Spirituality from the Edgar Cayce Readings (Edgar Cayce

Foundation, 2002), Kindle, 1086.


89

uniqueness of the Messiah and that Jesus is that Messiah. First, the Old Testament is replete with

declarations from God called Messianic prophecies that can be used to pinpoint the identity of

the Messiah.200 For instance, Micah 5:2 reports that the Messiah would be born in “Bethlehem

Ephrathah,” which is the recorded birthplace of Jesus in the gospels. Additionally, Daniel’s 70

weeks prophecy predicted that the Messiah would arrive 483 years after “Artaxerxes’ decree” in

“444 B.C.”201 This places the Messiah’s arrival at 33 A.D. which, regardless of how one

precisely dates Jesus’ triumphal entry, does fit the general timeline of Jesus’ life and ministry.202

A full treatment on the extensive nature and predictive capability of Messianic prophecy is

beyond the scope of this dissertation, but there are many sources that demonstrate Messianic

prophecy’s power to precisely indicate that Jesus is only person who could be the Messiah.203

Scripture also explicitly declares Jesus’ uniqueness as the Messiah directly. For example,

when Jesus asked the disciples, “who do you say that I am?” Peter responded, “You are the

200 Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, ed. James Dennison T., Jr., trans. George Giger

Musgrave, vol. 2 (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1994), 288. Other Prominent Messianic Prophecies and their

fulfillment: 1. Man born from seed of woman will crush Satan (Genesis 3:15, Matthew 1:23), 2. Offspring of

Abraham will bless all peoples (Genesis 12:3,7, Galatians 3:16), 3. Offspring of Judah will be the King (Genesis

49:10, Luke 1:33), 4. The Messiah will be the son of David (Jeremiah 23:5-6, Luke 1:31) 5. The full prediction of

the passion events (many prophecies) (Psalm 22, Matthew 27), 6. Killed on account of others (Isaiah 52-53, 1 John

2:2), 7. The Messiah will be God (Daniel 7, Matthew 24:30), 8. He will be the rejected cornerstone (Psalm 118:22,

Matthew 21:42), 9. The Messiah will be pierced as part of the execution (Zechariah 12:10, Matthew 27) 10. He will

speak in parables (Psalm 78:1-2, Matthew 13:34-36).

201 Thomas Ice, “The Seventy Weeks of Daniel,” Pre-Trib Research Center (n.d.), accessed June 8, 2020,

https://pre-trib.org/seventy-weeks-of-daniel/message/the-seventy-weeks-of-daniel/read.

202 Richard Schmidt, Daniel’s Gap, Paul’s Mystery: What Paused the Prophetic Calendar? (Hales,

Corners, WI: Prophecy Focus Ministries, 2016), 84.

203 Michael Rydelnik, ed., The Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy: Studies and Expositions of the

Messiah in the Old Testament (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2019); Michael Rydelnik, The Messianic Hope: Is

the Hebrew Bible Really Messianic?, vol. 9, NAC Studies in Bible and Theology (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing

Group, 2010); James Smith, What the Bible Teaches about the Promised Messiah: An In-Depth Study of 73 Key Old

Testament Prophecies about the Messiah (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1993); Darrell L. Bock and Mitch Glaser,

eds., The Gospel According to Isaiah 53: Encountering the Suffering Servant in Jewish and Christian Theology

(Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2012).

90

Messiah, the Son of the living God!”204 Jesus then affirmed Peter’s understanding of Himself

saying, “flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father in heaven.”205 This indicates

that Jesus’ identity as the Messiah also meant that He was the Son of God and that this identity

was confirmed by God Himself.206 John 11 also reports a similar declaration of Jesus being the

Messiah when Jesus declares that He is “the resurrection and the life,” and Martha responds by

saying, “I believe You are the Messiah, the Son of God, who comes into the world.”207 The

requirement that Martha believe in Him is another indicator that there is only one person whom

one can put one’s faith in: Jesus the Messiah, who has come into the world.208 In conclusion, the

Bible contains significant evidence that Jesus was the one and only unique Messiah and Son of

God.

Theologically, there are a number of reasons theologians have defended the uniqueness

of the Messiah and His identity as Jesus of Nazareth. First, the Messiah’s work necessitates that

only one person could ever be the Messiah. The Messiah’s central work is His death on the cross

for the atonement of the sins of all who believe in Him.209 This work must be completed by a

single individual, one time for all of humanity, as stated in the following verses in Hebrews: “by

this will of God, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once

204 Mark 8:29; Matthew 16:15-16.

205 Matthew 16:17.

206 Craig Blomberg, Matthew, vol. 22, The New American Commentary: New International Version


207 John 11:25-27.

208 D.A. Carson, The Gospel According to John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Leichester, U.K.:

Apollos, 1991), Kindle, 8631.

209 Stephen J. Wellum, Christ Alone: The Uniqueness of Jesus as Savior: What the Reformers Taught . . .

and Why It Still Matters, The 5 Solas Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017), Kindle, 3821.

91

and for all” and “this man after offering one sacrifice for sins forever.”210 If more than one

person could be or needed to be the Messiah, the sacrifice would be insufficient to complete the

task of salvation, as it would be fundamentally no different from the Mosaic sacrificial system

with its repeating sacrifices.211

In order to complete the work of atonement, the Messiah also had to be sinless. The

problem is that “the Scriptures maintain that the genuineness and fulness of Christ’s humanity

are necessary for our salvation.”212 Given that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of

God,” it would seem that no person who has or will ever live can be the Messiah.213 However,

Jesus claimed to be sinless and “kept [His] Father’s commands and remain in His love.”214 The

author of Hebrews also attributes sinlessness to Christ saying Jesus was “One who has been

tested in every way as we are, yet without sin.”215 No human being could ever make such a claim

nor earn their way to being able to claim sinlessness. Thus, Jesus, who being in very nature God

and man, is the only person who could act as an acceptable sacrifice, being “a lamb without

defect or blemish.”216 In conclusion, Christianity teaches in accordance with Scripture that Jesus

is the Messiah and the only person who could fulfill the promises of God in atonement for the

sins of those who believe.

210 Hebrews 10:10, 12.

211 Steven Ger, The Book of Hebrews: Christ Is Greater, ed. Mal Couch and Ed Hindson, Twenty-First

Century Biblical Commentary Series (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2009), 166-167.

212 Stephen J. Wellum, God The Son Incarnate: The Doctrine of Christ, ed. John S. Feinberg, Foundations

of Evangelical Theology (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016), Kindle, 6399.

213 Romans 3:23.

214 Wellum, God The Son Incarnate: The Doctrine of Christ, Kindle, 6415; John 15:10.

215 Hebrews 4:15.

216 1 Peter 1:19.

92

New Age Movement. Adherents of the New Age Movement do not believe that the

Messiah or Christ is a person. Rohr states that “‘Christ’ is a word for the Primordial Template

(‘Logos’) through whom ‘all things came into being, and not one thing had its being except

through him.’”217 He argues that “Christ” is the presence of God found in all of Creation and

cannot be limited to the human Jesus.218 Thus, the work of the Christ is not to save fallen

humanity through the atonement. Rather, God “saves” creation by loving it, and according to

Rohr, “God loves things by becoming them.”219 As people accept that the “Divine Presence”

flows through them, they become aware that “the Christ Mystery anoints all physical matter;”

and thus, they are anointed by God as well.220 In the New Age framework, salvation is

essentially the “present evolution of consciousness” that “includes everybody” as people come to

a greater awareness and consciousness of the fact that they are part of God.221

This concept is one of the central tenets of the entire movement. For instance, Eckhart

Tolle expresses Christ Consciousness or “the Christ within,” in panentheistic terms stating that “I

Am [is] the essence of identity of every man and woman, every life-form in fact.”222 He goes on

to say that “Christ refers to your indwelling divinity, regardless of whether you are conscious of

217 Rohr, The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope for, and

Believe, Kindle, 217.




221 Ibid, Kindle, 313-328.

222 Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose (London, U.K.: Penguin Books, 2016),

46.

93

it or not,” and then says about Jesus, He “became Christ, a vehicle for pure consciousness.”223

Thus, while simultaneously elevating humanity to the level of divinity, Christ Consciousness

brings Jesus down to the level of an exalted human. In conclusion, the New Age Movement

holds a view of Christ that removes Jesus’ true divinity and places a panentheistic divinity

throughout all of Creation. This also leads to a direct change in the purpose and means of

salvation.

God and Creation Criteria

Table 3.2 God and Creation Criteria

Criterion Number Criterion Description Christian Teaching New Age Movement

Teaching

1 Ontological

Creator/Creation

Relationship

Creator and Creation

are ontologically

distinct

Creator and Creation

are either

ontologically

identical, on a

continuum, or mixed

in some way

2 Creation Event God made creation

apart from any

external help

Creation continually

remakes itself

3 God’s authority God maintains full

authority and

Creation governs

itself

223 Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment (Vancouver, BC: Namaste

Publishing, 2004), 68.

94

sovereignty over

creation

4 Creator and creation

substance types

God and creation are

different substances

God and creation are

the same substance

5 God’s presence to nature All of nature is fully

present but not

identical to God at all

times

God is one with

nature

6 God’s presence to

humanity

God makes Himself

known to humanity

through His word

and works

God is the spirit of

mankind; thus, man

becomes internally

aware he is god

7 God and history God is sovereign

over history

Mankind and the

Cosmos control

history

8 Immutability of substance God does not change

ontologically

God is in process of

spiritual evolution

9 Immutability of

knowledge and decree

God’s knowledge is

fixed, and His decree

is eternal

God’s knowledge

continuously

increases, and it does

not have a decree;

individuals have

changing decrees

95

10 Depiction of God God is triune: three

persons in one

essence

God is an impersonal,

unconscious,

universal mind force

out of which

individual

consciousnesses

evolve

11 Type of Theism Trinitarian

monotheism

Pantheism or

Panentheism

12 Identity of Jesus Jesus is the only and

unique ontological

Son of God; He is the

only Christ or

Messiah

Jesus is a human

being who attained

high levels of divine

consciousness by

being one among

many who gained


13 Uniqueness of the Christ Jesus is the only

Christ and has been

for eternity

All people can attain


and become Christs

or anointed

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Doctrines Concerning the Nature and Purpose of Humanity

Human Nature: Distinct Creation vs. Universal Monism

Christianity. The Bible maintains the unity of human nature while referring to both

physical and non-physical parts. Scripture tends to speak of the various aspects of mankind in

relation to the whole. The following is the understanding of human nature as derived from the

various terms that Scripture uses to describe it. First, the Bible uses both basar and soma to refer

to the physical body.224 References to the soma are not negative nor are they associated with

sin.225 Instead, soma refers to the physical nature of mankind’s body. It is looked at as a good

thing, one that is to be cherished, and potentially, depending on one’s exegesis of Paul, a temple

of the Holy Spirit.226 The body can and must be purified in order to be present before God, so it

is something that can be defiled.227 However, it is important to note that it is not the body that

makes one unclean but what comes out of one’s mouth, which is a reference to the actions of the

soul.228 Additionally, sarx as flesh and soma as body are sharply distinguished in Scripture.229

224 Psalm 145:21; Matthew 10:28.

225 John Hammett, “Human Nature,” in A Theology for the Church, ed. Daniel Akin (Nashville, TN: B&H

Publishing Group, 2014), Kindle, 12569.


227 Leviticus 11:24-25.

228 Matthew 15:11-20

229 The Bible uses the term sarx to refer to the flesh. It is important to note that the flesh is not equivalent to

the physical human body. Rather, the flesh refers to the carnal sinful nature that mankind has inherited through

original sin. Unfortunately, because carnal desires are often for physical things, the two have been equated, however,

Scripture takes a positive view of the body and a negative view of the flesh or sin nature. The flesh is equivalent to

one’s now innate desires for self, immorality, and evil.

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To refer to the non-physical aspect of human nature, the Bible uses the terms nephesh and

psyche.230 In the Old Testament, it is also equated with the blood, and it is what energizes the

body and gives life to it.231 To spill the blood is to take a person’s nephesh and requires the death

penalty.232 The psyche is also the seat of personhood, decision making, and thought. It is often

used to refer to the sum total of a person’s non-material nature.233 It is the part that is said to

survive physical death and either go to heaven or hell.234 The spirit and the soul are presented in

a very similar manner in Scripture.235 Similarly, the heart is also a reference to the non-physical

part of the human being.236

There is a substantial degree of diversity among theologians concerning the constitution

of man. Most scholars’ views can be summarized as being either substance dualism, holistic

dualism, or monism. Augustine is representative of a standard substance dualism view stating,

“Man, then, as viewed by his fellow-man, is a rational soul with a mortal and earthly body in its

service.”237 This type of distinction is most likely due to both a biblical and Platonic

230 Job 12:10; Genesis 9:4; Deuteronomy 12:23; Numbers 31:28; Genesis 12:5; Ezekiel 13:18; 1

Corinthians 15:45; Acts 2:43; Revelation 18:13.

231 Leviticus 17:11.

232 Genesis 9:6.

233 Anthony Hoekema, Created in God’s Image (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing

Company, 1989), 203.

234 Matthew 10:28.

235 The ruach or pneuma is the spirit. This is not seen as a different substance for the soul even though

some verses do split it out from the soul. Rather, this is the part of mankind that is capable of having a relationship

with God. It is what is fundamentally wreaked by sin in that people are spiritually dead and in need of a new spirit or

in other words a renewed ability to be in relationship with God.

236 The leb or kardia is the heart and is one of the more vital pieces of the human constitution in Scripture.

The heart is the seat of one’s inclination and desires. It is the part of the soul that inclines one to God or to self. It is

the central motivator of one’s actions and is thought to be the seat of the life of a person.

237 Augustine of Hippo, On The Morals of the Catholic Church, trans. Richard Stothert (Public Domain,

388AD), I, 27, 52.

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understanding of human constitution.238 However, Augustine does recognize that “man is neither

body alone, nor soul alone, but both together . . . and therefore the highest good . . . is composed

of goods of both kinds, bodily and spiritual.”239 Thus, though Augustine takes a view that places

the body in a more distant position with regard to the whole person, he does acknowledge that

full constitution of mankind requires a body and soul working together. Aquinas shares a similar

overall view as Augustine in that he affirms that mankind is “composed of a spiritual and of a

corporeal substance;” however, he disagrees with Augustine’s understanding of the “man” being

both the body and the soul, instead affirming that “the soul is man.”240

Other Christian theologians have held to a monistic view of human constitution, within

which are a number of varieties. This dissertation will depict constitutionalism as a point of

comparison with the New Age concept of the essence level unity of soul and matter. Lynne

Baker depicts constitutionalism as the view that “we are fundamentally persons—whole

persons—not minds, souls or brains.”241 She argues that persons are “non-reductive” and are

only identical with themselves, thus a human is a specific body with a first-person perspective of

an individual person.242 She argues that there is no such thing as a person without a body. In

order to cover the intermediate state, she argues that God could provide a person with an

238 John Cooper, Body, Soul & Life Everlasting: Biblical Anthropology and the Monism-Dualism Debate

(Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989), Kindle, 309.

239 Augustine of Hippo, “The City of God,” in A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of

the Christian Church, ed. Philip Schaff (Buffalo, NY: The Christian Literature Company, 1887), XIX, 3, 1.

240 Aquinas, The “Summa Theologica” of St. Thomas Aquinas, 75; 75, 4.

241 Lynne Rudder Baker, “Constitutionalism: Alternative to Substance Dualism,” in Blackwell Companion

to Substance Dualsim, ed. Jonathan Loose, Angus Menuge, and J. P. Moreland (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons,

2018), 341.

242 Ibid, 341-346.

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“intermediate” body prior to the resurrection.243 In conclusion, the Bible affirms that human

nature is holistic and should not rightly exist divided. It also makes a degree of distinctions

between various aspects or parts of humanity like body and soul, even though theologians

disagree on exactly how deep of a distinction one should draw. Finally, though the gamut of

theology ranges from cartesian dualism to various forms of monism, no form of orthodox

Christianity asserts that mankind is of one substance with all of nature, nor that mankind is of

one substance with God.

New Age Movement. The New Age view on the constitution of mankind is that it is

united with the Cosmos.244 J. Z. Knight, through the channeled spirit, Ramtha, argues that matter

can go through a process of “reprogramming” to be converted into something fundamentally

different.245 Hanegraaff describes this process as the changing of “the very cellular structure of

his body, transposing it from the vibration of matter to the vibration rate of pure light.”246 Thus

in the New Age view, the Cosmos—and thus, humanity—is simply vibrations of energy that can

be morphed and changed into other types of matter and energy. It is this universal energy, equal

to the Cosmos, that is also called “Mind” and individual consciousnesses are extensions or

instantiations of the “One Mind.”247 Thus mankind is fundamentally energy and any

consciousness is an emergent property of that energy.

243 Baker, "Constitutionalism: Alternative to Substance Dualism," 348.


245 Anonymous, Ramtha, ed. Steven Lee Weinberg (Eastsound, WA: Sovereignty, 1988), 18.


247 Ibid, 204-205.

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This metaphysical structure underlies the New Age concept of “universal

interrelations.”248 This fundamental New Age belief decentralizes the concept of god. Rather

than the existence of a supreme conscious mind, NAM leaders affirm that god is a diffuse non-

personal entity spread throughout and united with the Cosmos.249 The ramification of this view is

that any instantiation of the universal consciousness is essentially, and by nature, connected to

every other part or instantiation of the universal consciousness. Additionally, all matter is

fundamentally connected to all other matter, not on a particulate level, but in the sense that all

matter is fundamentally energy vibrations. Thus, any piece of matter can convert into any other

piece of matter at any time. In conclusion, the New Age view of humanity is that it is one with

the Cosmos through the interconnectedness of energy and the unity of emergent consciousness.

Human Nature: Finite and Created vs. Infinite and Divine

Christianity. The Bible is strict with its understanding of mankind as a creation of God

that in no way shares in the divine essence. First, Genesis 1:26-27 presents mankind as an

unique, but still created, being: “So God created man in His own image; He created him in the

image of God.”250 In no way, shape, or form was mankind a derivation of God nor a siphoning

off of God. Mankind is presented as a creation just as all other aspects of the Universe are

presented. The word used in these verses is “bara” or “to create.” Strong’s concordance states


249 Newport, The New Age Movement and the Biblical Worldview: Conflict and Dialogue, 4-5.

250 Genesis 1:26-27.

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that “only God is the subject of this verb,” and its use includes everything in the universe

including humanity and angels.251

Though some have sought to demonstrate that spiritual renewal, glorification, and

resurrection involve the deification of mankind, Scripture stands resolute in the Creator/Creation

distinction. For instance, concerning believers, Paul asks that they “may be filled with the

knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of

the Lord, fully pleasing to Him,” as well as “be strengthened with all power, according to His

glorious might, for all endurance and patience.”252 These verses paint God’s empowerment of

Christians not as a divinization, but as a spiritual empowerment whereby God strengthens people

to accomplish His will, typically focused around moral concerns. Additionally, five verses later,

Paul states that “everything was created by Him [Jesus], in heaven and on earth, the visible and

the invisible.” Thus, no matter how much empowerment mankind receives, he is still a creation.

Finally, the resurrection itself is described as “from heaven” and “bear[ing] the image of the

heavenly man.”253 Thus, the biblical understanding of glorification and resurrection does not

involve becoming Christ, but rather, it involves being made into His image, preserving the

Creator/Creation distinction.

Theologically, the one differentiating factor between mankind and the rest of creation is

that man was made “in the image of God.”254 There are a number of different views on what the

251 James Strong, “1254 - Bârâ,” Strong’s Complete Word Study Concordance (Chattanooga, TN: AMG

Publishers, 2004).

252 Colossians 1:9-11.

253 1 Corinthians 15:47-49.

254 Genesis 1:27.

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Imago Dei actually is, but they all agree that it is not in-and-of-itself a declaration of deity; rather

it means “human persons ‘reflect’ the divine reality in some way.”255 Traditionally, the Imago

Dei has been viewed from a structural perspective. For example, in Against Heresies, Irenaeus

argued that “man being rational, and therein like unto God” was responsible for his actions.256

The structural view holds that mankind is like God in terms of “symbolic reasoning, self-

determination, moral agency, [and] self-transcendence.”257 This view holds that the image is

something essential to humanity and that humans would not be such without it. For example,

John Calvin states that the image is composed of “distinguished endowments,” principally

“reason . . . by which they can distinguish between good and evil.”258

Some theologians take a relational approach to the Imago Dei. This view, developed

substantially by Karl Barth, argues that:

man is created by God in correspondence with this relationship and differentiation in God

Himself: created as a Thou that can be addressed by God but also as an I responsible to

God; in the relationship of man and woman in which man is a Thou to his fellow and

therefore himself and I in responsibility to this claim.259

The strongest argument in defense of this position comes from the existence of inter-Trinitarian

relationships and humanity being created as reflecting them. However, this position suffers from

taking the full gamut of biblical data into account and “an anachronistic tendency to read modern

255 Marc Cortez, Theological Anthropology: A Guide for the Perplexed (New York City, NY: T&T Clark

International, 2010), Kindle, 196.

256 Roberts and Donaldson, “Irenaeus: Against Heresies,” 4.3.3.

257 Cortez, Theological Anthropology: A Guide for the Perplexed, Kindle, 225.

258 John Calvin, Psalms, Part 1, trans. John King, vol. 8, Calvin’s Commentaries (Public Domain, 1850),

accessed June 11, 2020, https://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/calvin/cc08/cc08013.htm, Psalm 8:5.


2009), 198.

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conceptual categories into the biblical text.”260 In conclusion, even the most disparate theologies

concerning the Imago Dei affirm that mankind is only like God, not God Himself.

A third view, called the representative view, has also made its way into evangelical

theology and attempts to account for both the structural and functional aspects of the image of

God. This view starts with Henry’s premise that “Divine revelation is the starting point of all

human knowledge.”261 From there, Scripture is utilized to expand upon the declarations

presented in Genesis 1:26-27 which state that mankind was created in God’s “likeness” and with

the intention that mankind would “rule” over various aspects of Creation.262 As Strachan states,

“the image of God [is] an ontological reality that leads to function.”263 In this view, the image of

God is humanity ontologically and to “see humanity is to see the likeness of God.”264 Thus, the

mankind’s ontological and structural status as image bearers cannot change. Sin cannot denigrate

the image, nor can mankind ontologically become the image any more than it already is.265

However, the functional or representational aspect of the image can and does vary widely

from being virtually non-existent to being expressed in perfection. Hoekema argues that sin

results in mankind using the gifts of God “in ways that were contrary to God’s will.”266 Strachan

describes the loss of the functional aspect in terms of what mankind was designed to do: conduct

260 Cortez, Theological Anthropology: A Guide for the Perplexed, Kindle, 384.


Theses, Part 1 (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1999), 15294.

262 Genesis 1:26-27.

263 Owen Strachan, Reenchanting Humanity: A Theology of Mankind (Ross-shire, U.K.: Christian Focus

Publications, 2019), Kindle, 405.

264 Ibid.

265 Strachan, Reenchanting Humanity, Kindle, 415.

266 Hoekema, Created in God’s Image, 83.

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himself according to “obedient worship.”267 Sinful, unrepentant man no longer worships the one

true God nor gives Him praise nor glory in any willful way. Rather than working and serving for

God’s ends, mankind sets itself up as an idol that works for its own chief ends.

Thus, one of the central aspects of salvation is the restoration of the functional or

representation aspect of the image of God to mankind. Strachan argues that “worship is the end

of humanity…if we connect adoration with obedience and service, we set ourselves up to

understand what eternity will involve.”268 This restoration of the image of God happens through

the biblical understanding of salvation. It begins “in regeneration” or the act through which the

Holy Spirit causes a person to be “born again.”269 It is continued and completed through the

process of sanctification whereby the person in question becomes free of the “pollution of sin”

and is “enabled to live in love, in three directions: toward God, toward the neighbor, and toward

nature.”270 This process is not completed until after death, thus while on earth, no one attains to a

perfect obedience prior to death.

Jesus Christ, as the God-man, is “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all

creation.”271 He is the only one who perfectly exemplifies the image of God and walks in perfect

obedience and love.272 He bears the image of God perfectly due to the unique relationship that

He has with the Father and by that fact that He is the Incarnation of the Son into human nature.

267 Strachan, Reenchanting Humanity: A Theology of Mankind, Kindle, 440.

268 Ibid.


270 Hoekema, Created in God's Image, 86.

271 Colossians 1:15.


105

Through Him, fallen humanity is able to “see clearly what is hidden in Genesis 1: namely, what

man as the perfect image of God should be like.”273 It is only through union with Jesus Christ

that mankind can hope to bear God’s image as intended and thus bring to fruition the hope of

Colossians 1:27-29:

“God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery,

which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim Him, warning and teaching

everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. I labor for

this, striving with His strength that works powerfully in me.”274

In conclusion, the doctrine of the image of God is not about transforming humanity into

God nor about mixing humanity and divinity. As Strachan states, “Genesis 1 does not allow us to

conclude that the thriving planet formed by the Creator is the Creator or is in the Creator in

ontological terms…the world is uniquely the world, and the creatures are discrete creatures.”275

Additionally, that mankind is the image bearer of God uniquely positions him so that he must

find his definition and purpose in God and His revelation. Through sin mankind has forsaken the

purpose unto which God has made him, but that purpose can be restored through faith and trust

in the saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the one true image of God. By the power of the Holy

Spirit, God regenerates mankind and causes them to walk in His ways in obedience and love.

New Age Movement. Fundamental to New Age theology is the understanding that

mankind is identical with God. Ferguson states that “the separate self is an illusion . . . even

beyond the collective Self . . . there is a transcendent, universal Self.”276 This is directly related


274 Colossians 1:27-29.

275 Strachan, Reenchanting Humanity: A Theology of Mankind, Kindle, 293.

276 Ferguson, The Aquarian Conspiracy: Personal and Social Transformation in Our Time, 100-101.

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to NAM doctrine on the nature of humanity as being one with the Cosmos. Another New Age

leader, David Spangler, claimed the following: “I AM now the Life of a new heaven and new

earth. Others must draw upon Me and unite with Me to build its forms.”277 This was his way of

asserting that he had ascended to the universal god-self and gained the knowledge necessary to

shape the universe into one of his own making. In contrast to Christianity, New Age leaders

claim the power of creation for themselves and destroy the Creator/Creation distinction.

MacLaine also emphasized her own oneness with the material creation and God saying

that “I was the air, the water, the darkness, the walls, the bubbles, the candle . . . I am God,

because all energy is plugged into the same source . . . God is us and we are God.”278 By uniting

Creation and Creator, MacLaine and other New Age leaders turn humanity into an eternal self-

creating and self-actualizing being. However, this has serious ramifications for humanity in

general. First, if MacLaine and others are correct, then “there is no diversity or individuality in

the world.”279 Second, all morality vanishes into thin air. If all people are truly just an extension

of one impersonal god-force, then it is impossible to treat oneself other than one would want to

be treated and the concept of “wrong behavior” is eradicated. Similarly, those who try to hold to

a morality will only be left with whatever morality one comes up with at the time. Third,

humanity loses its place as a special creation as it is fundamentally no different from the dirt on

the ground or the water in the ocean. In conclusion, the NAM view on humanity as divine

277 David Spangler, Revelation: The Birth of a New Age (San Francisco, CA: The Rainbow Bridge, 1976),

110.

278 Shirley MacLaine, Dancing in the Light (New York City, NY: Penguin Random House, 1986), 103-104,

354.

279 Amano and Geisler, The Infiltration of the New Age, 17.

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eradicates the Creator/Creation distinction and places absorption into the god-force as the

ultimate goal of mankind.

Individual Purpose: Christlikeness vs. Christ Consciousness

Christianity. “Who am I?” is one of the most basic and core questions that people have

throughout their lives. The Bible’s answer incorporates both the divine design through the

concept of imago dei, as well as the effects of sin and rebellion against God. As fallen beings,

people are inherently sinful children of wrath whose heart is deceitful and doomed to destruction

in hell without a savior. They can do nothing in and of themselves to better their situation or their

person. Perfection, moral or otherwise, is outside of their grasp. However, the Bible does teach

that humanity can be perfected. The central verse that depicts this doctrine is Colossians 1:27

which states, “God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this

mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”280 This verse indicates that the mystery of

God that Paul is referring to is the literal “indwelling of ‘Christ.’”281

However, unlike the Christ Consciousness of the New Age Movement, the indwelling of

Christ maintains the distinction of Jesus Christ and the individual being indwelt. Scripture goes

to great lengths to describe the union. For instance, believers are “created in Christ Jesus for

good works,” and they “no longer live, but Christ lives” in them.282 There is an aspect of the

union with Christ that seems to require the death of self, so that one can live Christ’s life “by

faith in the Son of God.”283 In Romans, Paul states that believers are “baptized into His death,”

280 Colossians 1:27.

281 Pao, Colossians & Philemon, 131.

282 Ephesians 2:10; Galatians 2:20.

283 Galatians 2:20.

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so that they may be joined with Him “in the likeness of His resurrection.284 Union with Christ is

not an ontological union, it is a relational union; it is not absorption into Christ and God, it is

about being united with Him; “to be saved is to be united to the Savior.”285 Union with Christ is

the theological thread that connects all aspects of salvation from effectual calling to glorification

together.286

Being one with Christ is not about a higher consciousness, nor is it about gaining divine

powers; instead, at its core, it is about how believers can “participate in what is most precious to

[Jesus]: his relationship with his Father.”287 J. I. Packer argues that this relationship is “the

highest privilege that the gospel offers: higher even than justification.”288 He goes on to state that

justification through the atonement and forgiveness of sins is absolutely vital, so that we may

have peace with God, but the blessings of union with Christ do not end there.289 Instead, these

lay the groundwork for the greater blessing of being adopted into God’s family. John Calvin also

affirmed this view of adoption as children of God, saying, “there are innumerable other ways

indeed in which God daily testifies his fatherly love toward us, but the mark of adoption is justly

preferred to them all.”290

284 Romans 6:4-5.

285 Marcus Peter Johnson, One with Christ: An Evangelical Theology of Salvation (Wheaton, IL: Crossway,

2013), Kindle, 372.



288 J. I. Packer, Knowing God (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1993), Kindle, 3459.

289 J. I. Packer, Knowing God, 2459.

290 John Calvin, John, trans. John King, Calvin’s Commentaries (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2003), John

17:23.

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The relational aspect of adoption is depicted in John 14:18-20; “I will not leave you as

orphans; I am coming to you . . . In that day you will know that I am in My Father, you are in

Me, and I am in you.”291 In this verse “Jesus speaks of the new state that will exist between the

Father, Son, [Spirit], and the disciples,” in which “the Father and Son will indwell (via the Spirit)

the believer.”292 It is through this indwelling that believers participate “in God’s relational life—

eternal, life-giving bond of love between the Father, Son, and Spirit.”293 That this type of union

can happen without completely being absorbed into God is one of the tenets that makes

Christianity unique. Christians enter into God, not through essence, but through becoming “sons

of God by being joined to the Son of God.”294

New Age Movement. The individual goal of the New Age believer is to attain the “true

self.”295 Hammer argues that New Age thinking, which is heavily rooted in enlightenment

anthropology, is fundamentally “antithetical” to Christian theology.296 In terms of the ultimate

goal of humanity as individuals, NAM theology is not focused on morality or destiny, but rather,

its emphasis is on the “transmutation” of the “personality.”297 NAM philosophers assert that

291 John 14:18-20.

292 Klink, John, 17545.

293 Johnson, One with Christ: An Evangelical Theology of Salvation, 2996.

294 Ibid.

295 Olav Hammer, Claiming Knowledge: Strategies of Epistemology from Theosophy to the New Age

(Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 2003), 11.

296 Olav Hammer, Claiming Knowledge: Strategies of Epistemology from Theosophy to the New Age

(Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 2003), 4. Enlightenment anthropology argues that “humanity is not fallen, we have

within us a rational faculty that we can use to free ourselves from our self-imposed tutelage.” Additionally,

enlightenment thinking argues that “if our understanding of the world differs from that presented in authoritative

revelated teachings, it is the latter that must yield.” Contrarily, Christian theology argues that mankind is fallen due

to sin and is in need of a savior to get back to a state of holiness.

297 Ibid, 52.

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there are “‘archetypal’ elements in one’s own psyche” that must be unlocked, so that one can

transcend the ego and achieve “the ‘true’ essence of our persons.”298 For instance, NAM leader,

Wayne Dyer, utilizes inward contemplation and meditation to achieve this form of self-

discovery. He argues that “prayer and meditation” revealed his true “purpose” which was to

“become totally, unconditionally loving to all people,” and as a result, serve as a fountain of

miracles.299

NAM theology on the chief end of the individual involves the fusion of “spirituality and

psychology.”300 Religious scholar, Robert Fuller, states that whereas people used to turn to

religion to answer the deep questions of their lives, “psychology has become [its] secular

successor” and gives people “a new vocabulary and new set of theories by which to understand

ourselves.”301 William James, one of the pioneers of New Age thinking along psychological

lines, sought to persuade people of “unchurched religious philosophies such as parapsychology,

yoga, positive thinking, and mind cure” with the intention of divorcing spirituality from

“personal judgment or . . . faith in ancient creeds.”302 He argued that through his methods “our

deepest destiny is fulfilled . . . work is done upon our finite personality.”303 In conclusion, the

goal of mankind in the New Age Movement is not a relationship with God; rather, it is an

298 Hammer, Claiming Knowledge, 52, 55.

299 Wayne Dyer, Real Magic: Creating Miracles in Everyday Life (New York City, NY: Quill, 1992), 12.

300 Hammer, Claiming Knowledge: Strategies of Epistemology from Theosophy to the New Age, 72.

301 Robert C. Fuller, Spiritual but Not Religious: Understanding Unchurched America (New York City,

NY: Oxford University Press, 2001), 123.

302 Ibid, 132-133.

303 William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature (New York City, NY:

Random House, 1902), 406.

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improved personality and a connection with the cosmic energy of the universe. This is achieved

not by a relational union with God, but through psychological diagnostics and spiritual practices.

Corporate Purpose: Body of Christ vs. Societal Transformation

Christianity. The Bible presents the formation and sanctification of the Body of Christ as

humanity’s primary goal during the church age. This body is composed of members of humanity

from every race, ethnicity, nation, and tongue. As 1 Corinthians 12 states, “we were all baptized

by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all

made to drink of one Spirit. So, the body is not one part but many.”304 According to Scripture,

Jesus Christ “gave Himself” for the Body of Christ “to make her holy” and to “present the

church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle.”305 In this way, the Bible presents the

effectual calling and election of a subset of humanity for the purpose of purification and

cleansing from sin unto a relationship with Christ that resembles a bride and groom.

While on earth, the Body of Christ has been set to act as the primary mode of confession

to the world that Jesus is the Christ. As the Paul writes, Jesus was . . . preached among the

nations, believed on in the world.”306 The body serves first and foremost as the community

through which the Great Commission will be actualized and disciples will be made throughout

the Earth.307 This confession and the mission that develops from it must be held by the church or

the Body of Christ will fall to the “entrapment of the gospel by the culture” as it has countless


305 Ephesians 5:25-26.

306 1 Timothy 3:16.

307 Matthew 28:19-20.

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times throughout church history.308 Paul’s injunction to the Body of Christ is vital to understand

this issue: “For if a person comes and preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or you

receive a different spirit, which you had not received, or a different gospel, which you had not

accepted, you put up with it splendidly!” The purpose of the Body of Christ on Earth is to preach

and proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ in full without any exceptions. When it does this it remains

healthy and continues to prepare itself for Jesus’ return; when it does not, it puts itself in danger

of having its “lampstand” removed.309

In terms of its relationship to the world, the Body of Christ is called to be:

a distinctly Christian community in contrast to the perceptions and practices of its

surrounding society; the church is continuously shaped by the gospel to be a

demonstration of its claims, promises, and invitations; and the church relates itself to the

surrounding world, near and far, as a community of the coming reign of God.310

The Body of Christ is not an answer to the world’s problems, nor is it the world’s watchdog.

While on Earth, the Church will not exhibit perfection and will sometimes lose its way. The

Body of Christ is a collection of “pilgrims living and worshipping in the “boundary epoch”

between the two advents of Jesus Christ.”311 The Body of Christ is focused on building an

eschatological community of redeemed people who are being prepared to live with God and each

other for eternity. This is fundamentally opposed to the NAM understanding of the purpose of

humanity on Earth which is to become one with the Cosmos and be free of all distinction. In fact,

308 Gary Johnson and Ronald Gleason, eds., Reforming or Conforming?: Post-Conservative Evangelicals

and the Emerging Church (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2008), 269.

309 Revelation 2:5-6.

310 George Hunsberger, “Evangelical Conversion toward a Missional Ecclesiology,” in Evangelical

Ecclesiology: Reality or Illusion?, ed. John Stackhouse Jr. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2003), 109.

311 Gregg Allison, Sojourners and Strangers: The Doctrine of the Church, Foundations of Evangelical

Theology (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), Kindle, 3735.

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the Body of Christ lives to show the adherents of the New Age Movement that there is a better

way, with better promises and a better God.

New Age Movement. Marilyn Ferguson presents in great detail the ultimate goal of the

NAM for society: the complete destruction of all traditional roles and distinctions that have held

society together. She reports that “custom” and “norms” hold significant power in society and

that one of the NAM’s primary goals is to see “once-entrenched patterns of marriage, family,

sexuality, and social institutions [be] shaken by radically new, or radically old, alternatives.”312

One of the specific dichotomies that she mentions is being destroyed is the “male-female”

distinction, as men are yielding to the “increased ‘yin’ nature” in their lives and becoming more

like women.313 The goal as she sees it is to utilize the cosmic feeling of being “bonded to the

whole, the community,” in order to embody “empathy with the world” through which love reigns

supreme as total “acceptance.”314

In terms of the morality of human relations, the New Age Movement relies on its

philosophy of the destruction of distinctions to create harmony. In NAM theology, “the duality

of ‘good versus evil’ is ultimately illusory.”315 Through New Age enlightenment, people can

transcend their soul and realize that the dualism of good and evil is a fundamentally relativistic

construct based on individual perspective. MacLaine argues that terrorism, murder, and abortion

are only evil in the eye of the beholder.316 Stanislav Grof likens the existence of perceived good


313 Ibid.

314 Ibid, 437-438.


316 MacLaine, It’s All in the Playing, 144-145.

114

and evil to a “cosmic game.”317 He argues that “the problems and baffling paradoxes associated

with human existence are . . . contrived deceptions . . . and the ultimate meaning of human

existence is to experience fully all the states of mind associated with . . . consciousness.”318 In

conclusion, the New Age view of society is one in which all cultural distinctions and traditions

cease to exist, morality is seen as an illusion, and individuals recognize their paradoxical role in

the Universal Mind’s cosmic game.

Eschatological Purpose: Kingdom of God vs. New Age Utopia

Christianity. There are few theological topics in Christianity that are as heavily disputed

as eschatology. Within orthodox understanding, there are multiple views on both the definition

of the Kingdom of God and the timing of when it will arrive (or has arrived). Thus, rather than

presenting a specific view of the Kingdom, this section will first detail the commonalities that all

views of the Kingdom have, and then, compare those views to the NAM understanding of the

world’s destiny. Though the verses that will be assessed may be speaking about different

moments in the Kingdom of God, they are only being used to discern attributes of the Kingdom

regardless of the degree to which they are realized.

First, the Kingdom of God is described as a time when Jesus will reign as a “powerful,

theocratic ruler.”319 Psalm 22 depicts God’s reign as total sovereignty which cannot be denied,

saying, “All the families of the nations will bow down before You, for kingship belongs to the

Lord; He rules over the nations. All who prosper on earth will eat and bow down; all those who

317 Fritjof Capra, Uncommon Wisdom: Conversations with Remarkable People (London, U.K.: Fontana,

1989), 150.

318 Fritjof Capra, Uncommon Wisdom, 150.

319 Jim Showers and Chris Katulka, eds., Thy Kingdom Come: A Biblical Study of the Kingdom of God

(Bellmawr, NJ: Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, 2019), 141.

115

go down to the dust will kneel before Him—even the one who cannot preserve his life.”320 This

type of rule is seen both at the national level and the individual level. Additionally, the reference

to “one who cannot preserve his life” indicates that Jesus’ rule will extend to those who do not

recognize it.321 No matter what people want, the rule of God in the Kingdom cannot be denied.

This rule will also involve swift judgment as God “will break them with a rod of iron; You will

shatter them like pottery.”322

A second aspect of the Kingdom is that “war will exist no more; all nations will be at

peace under the rule and righteous reign of the Prince of Peace.”323 For instance, Isaiah records

that “He will settle disputes among the nations and provide arbitration for many peoples. They

will turn their swords into plows and their spears into pruning knives. Nations will not take up

the sword against other nations, and they will never again train for war.”324 God’s reign will

institute an unprecedented era of world peace that is based not on instantaneous agreement, but

on perfect “arbitration.” This peace will result in the complete dissolution of the armed forces of

nations as there will simply be no need to “train for war.” Additionally, there will be a general

recognition of God throughout the nations as “all nations will stream to [the mountain of the

Lord’s house].”325

320 Psalm 22:27-29.

321 Psalm 22:29.

322 Psalm 2:9.

323 Charles Feinberg, Millennialism: The Two Major Views (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1980), 186.

324 Isaiah 2:2-4.

325 Ibid.

116

Another quality of the Kingdom is the ultimate eradication of all disease, sickness,

suffering, and death.326 First Corinthians 15 argues that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the

kingdom of God,” so “this mortal is clothed with immortality” resulting in the victory cry of

“death has been swallowed up in victory.”327 Thus, humanity in the Kingdom of God will be

immune to the effects of death. Similarly, Revelation states, that God will “wipe away every tear

from their eyes. Death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because

the previous things have passed away.”328 Not only will death be dealt with, but so will all

sickness and even personal grief. The portrayal of the Kingdom is one in which all of humanity

and God are in “shalom” with each other and there is no strife, anger, malice, or evil.

Additionally, there are no more accidents, incidents, or troubles; it is a time of perfect harmony.

In conclusion, the biblical portrayal of the Kingdom of God is marked by the authoritative reign

of God, universal peace throughout the Earth, the end of all suffering and death, and universal

peace between God and men.329

New Age Movement. NAM leaders envision a new age arising from the current one,

marking the transition between “The Age of Pisces” and “The Age of Aquarius.” Aquarius is

known as the age of peace following the age of war. This utopia is often called “The Whole

Earth,” which means that the whole world will one day be “a borderless country, a paradigm of

humanity with room enough for outsiders and traditionalists, for all our ways of human knowing,

326 Matt Waymeyer, Amillennialism and the Age to Come: A Premillennial Critique of the Two-Age Model

(The Woodlands, TX: Kress Biblical Resources, 2016), Kindle, 3780.


328 Revelation: 21:3-4.

329 Revelation 21-22.

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for all mysteries and all cultures.”330 This fully accepting, multi-cultural world will be

accomplished through the rejection of the notion of “right or wrong” and the acceptance of all

peoples into one large “family.”331 Along this line, world peace is achieved through the “personal

transformation” of the minds of all people rather than through politics. Thus, this new society

will be constructed out of an “autonomous people” who affirm that “you cannot impose your

brand of enlightenment on anyone else.”332 Ultimately, the goal of New Age adherents in the

Aquarian Age is “the fulfillment of individual potential.”333

One of the main physical accomplishments of the Aquarian Age will be the elimination

of personal need. As their ultimate goal of interpersonal relationships, New Age adherents seek

to eradicate such “problems like poverty and [dangers to the] environment.”334 The key to

solving these problems is either worshipping the Earth “as a goddess [and] alive,” or becoming

one with the universal consciousness of the Earth and the Cosmos.335 In this way, people can

have the level of respect, reverence, and power needed to end poverty and world hunger, and

save the environment.

Another way to represent the New Age view of utopia is through the concept of

“planetization.” New Age leader Lewis Mumford described it by saying, “the destiny of


331 Ibid.

332 Ferguson, The Aquarian Conspiracy, 456.

333 Richard Blow, “Moronic Convergence: The Moral and Spiritual Emptiness of New Age,” The New

Republic, January 28, 1988, 24.

334 Ibid, 27.

335 Stewart Chevre, “The Gaia Hypothesis: Science, Mythology, and the Desecration of God,” SCP Journal

16, no. 1 (1991): 28–29.

118

mankind . . . is at last to become one . . . this unity is on the point of being politically expressed

in a world government that will unite nations and regions in transactions beyond their individual

capacity.”336 This requires a fundamentally Marxist, socialist view of economics, where every

individual is provided an equal “distribution” of “wealth, prosperity, and peace.”337 In

conclusion, the New Age view of utopia is one in which each individual is his or her own

authority, where all economic means are evenly distributed throughout humanity, and where the

Earth is prospering as a planet. Additionally, it also requires the universalization of

consciousness between all people.

The Nature and Purpose of Humanity Criteria

Table 3.3 The Nature and Purpose of Humanity Criteria

Criterion

Number


Teaching

1 Anthropology: substance Mankind’s nature is

both physical and

non-physical, yet

distinct from God and

creation

Mankind, nature, and

god are one

continuous substance

2 Anthropology: creation of

mankind

God created and

defined mankind

Mankind creates and

defines itself

336 Lewis Mumford, Transformations of Man (Gloucester, MA: Peter Smith Publisher, 1978), 142.

337 Groothuis, Unmasking the New Age: Is There a New Religious Movement Trying to Transform Society?,

117.

119

3 Anthropology: mankind’s

relationship to God

Man is made in the

image of God

Mankind is made

from the substance of

god

4 Anthropology: identity Christians find their

identity in Christ

through His

indwelling; Christ

and believers remain

distinct individuals

The acquisition of


allows one to become

one’s true self

5 Eschatology: now By the power of the

Holy Spirit, God is

creating the body of

Christ who is being

sanctified to

participate in the

eternal kingdom

Through Christ

consciousness, all

distinctions on earth

are being erased and

conflict between

people is being

eradicated

6 Eschatology: God’s role God’s authority and

kingdom are fully

realized throughout

the new heaven and

new earth

As all distinctions are

erased through

awareness of the

universal mind, war

and conflict end;

creation of a

120

boundaryless

worldwide country

7 Eschatology: humanity’s

role

To love God and love

one’s neighbor

To affirm divine

autonomy of every

individual

8 Eschatology: results Sin, death, and

rebellion are

eradicated:

individuality is

maintained

Conflict is eradicated,

individuality is

blurred, personal

autonomy reigns

supreme

9 World Peace Achieved through

sanctification

Achieved through

eradication of

distinctions

Doctrines Concerning Sin and Salvation

The Fall of Humanity: Sin vs. Ignorance

Christianity. The Bible uniformly teaches that the fundamental problem with humanity

is sin and separation from God. Genesis 1-2 presents a picture of humanity in which people are

in harmony with God, able to speak directly with God without repercussion, and able to eat

freely of the “tree of life” and never die.338 Key to the biblical narrative is the fact that after the

338 Mathews, Genesis 1-11:26, vol. 1A, Kindle, 4615; Genesis 1-2.

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creation of the woman, Adam and Eve were not aware that they lacked anything. All that they

needed was provided by God in the garden, and they were both in right relationship with God.

However, this situation fundamentally changes in Genesis 3, which states that upon being

tempted by the serpent, Eve “saw the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it

was desirable for obtaining wisdom… so she took some of its fruit and ate it,” as did Adam.339

This was in direct violation of the only command God had given them. By taking the fruit and

eating, they committed the first sin against God. Sin is most often described as “chātā” or

“missing the mark;” it conveys the idea of not living up to the standard that God has set for

holiness.340 At that juncture, a number of permanent things occurred to the entire human race.

First, “the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked.”341 Adam and

Eve, as well as the rest of humanity, now possessed an innate knowledge of shame for whom and

what they are. Rather than being innocent, mankind became ashamed and guilty.342 Second, God

judged Adam and Eve as guilty and sentenced them to death.343 This death would happen as their

bodies physically died, but it was reflective of the fact that they could no longer remain in the

presence of God—thus, they also spiritually died.344

That all humanity has fallen under the curse as the result of Adam’s and Eve’s sin is

clearly represented throughout Scripture. First, as humanity proliferates from the beginning, it

339 Genesis 3:6.

340 R. Stanton Norman, “Human Sinfulness,” in A Theology for the Church, ed. Daniel Akin (Nashville,

TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2014), Kindle, 14567.

341 Genesis 3:7.

342 Mathews, Genesis 1-11:26, vol. 1A, Kindle, 5516.

343 Genesis 3:19.

344 Genesis 3:23-24.

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quickly becomes so degenerate and sinful— “man’s wickedness was widespread on the earth and

that every scheme his mind thought of was nothing but evil all the time” —that God had to “wipe

off from the face of the earth mankind.”345 This type of evil persisted throughout the history.

Even God’s chosen people, Israel, behaved so poorly that God exiled them from the Promised

Land. As a result, He exiled them from the Promised Land. New Testament authors are equally

as discouraging about the human race. For instance, Jesus states that “No one is good but One—

God.”346 Paul also argues that “there is no one righteous, not even one,” and “all have sinned and

fall short of the glory of God.”347 In conclusion, the Bible teaches that the fundamental problem

with mankind is not a lack of knowledge, but guilt before God for breaking His divine command.

One of the difficult theological debates concerning the nature of sin and its effect on

humanity involves attempting to describe how all of humanity came to a fallen state through

Adam’s sin, yet also remains fully responsible with regard to the individual sins that one

commits. Even if they could not answer this conundrum, the early church fathers agreed that this

understanding of sin was correct. For example, Justin Martyr argues simultaneously that

humanity has “from Adam’s time . . . fallen under death and the deceit of the serpent,” and “each

man sinned by his own fault.”348 Augustine taught that “original sin” was part of human nature

from “infancy,” which he likened to “desires” that “inflamed” him in his youth.349 Shedd further

builds upon this understanding using the concepts of volition and inclination. He argues that the

345 Genesis 6:5-6.

346 Mark 10:18.

347 Romans 3:10, 23.

348 Justin Martyr, Selections from Justin Martyr’s Dialogue with Trypho, a Jew, trans. R. P. C. Hanson

(London, U.K.: Lutterworth Press, 1963), 50.

349 Augustine, The Confessions of Saint Augustine, Kindle, 110, 1154, 1926.

123

fallen part of the human will lies most strongly with the soul’s inclination which is “the actions

of the soul which terminate on the soul itself.”350 Another way to explain this is as one’s desires.

A holy inclination only has the desire to love God and obey His commands. A fallen inclination

only has the inherent desire to satisfy oneself. According to Shedd, there is no way for a fallen

sinful nature to recover itself. To get a holy nature back, one must receive the regeneration of the

Holy Spirit and experience a “renovation of the will.”351

This method of understanding sin’s effects relies on the theory of traducianism in terms

of how people receive their souls. This view holds that all people were seminally present in

Adam, and thus, share the guilt with Adam for rebelling against God, even though they are only

held accountable for the individual sins they commit.352 The alternative view is called

creationism, whereby mankind receives their souls directly from God upon conception and is

held accountable for Adam’s sin through representative headship. Created souls are “deprived of

original righteousness” upon the basis of Adam’s representation of the human race.353 In

conclusion, though there are different ways of understanding sin, it is generally acknowledged in

Evangelical Christianity that sin has both irreparably degraded human nature and that individuals

are held accountable for their own sins.

New Age Movement. In New Age thinking, the root problem plaguing humanity is not

sin, disobedience, nor rebellion against God. Instead, ignorance of our true nature is the




353 Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, ed. James Dennison T., Jr., trans. George Giger

Musgrave, vol. 1 (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1994), 447, 643.

124

fundamental problem. New Age environmental leader, Matthew Fox, argues that “awakening of

heart knowledge and heart power” are the keys to being able to “help the Mother Earth.”354 More

commonly, the New Age concept of ignorance is framed in the lack of one’s knowledge of one’s

“superconsciousness” or the means by which one recognizes that one is god.355

This type of thinking exemplifies the doctrine of Gnosticism, or “that salvation comes

through knowledge (gnosis) rather than through faith (pistis).”356 This knowledge allows one to

unlock the “higher self” and connect with the “God force.”357 Under this view, people can attain

perfection by recognizing that they are part of god.358 Richard Rohr adopts this thinking and

argues that without this knowledge, “we struggle to see God in our own reality, let alone to

respect reality, protect it, or love it.”359 The New Age Movement affirms a view of mankind that

is fundamentally good and in the “process” of becoming perfect.360 Thus, the doctrine of sin in

the New Age Movement actually ends up in the deification of mankind with one author attesting

that human beings are “the light of the world.”361

354 Matthew Fox, O.P., The Coming of the Cosmic Christ (San Francisco, CA: Harper and Row, Publishers,

1988), 12, 30.

355 Nina Easton, “Shirley MacLaine’s Mysticism for the Masses: She’s the Super Saleswoman for a Fast-

Growing New Age Movement,” Los Angeles Times, September 6, 1987, accessed June 8, 2020,

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-09-06-tm-6352-story.html.

356 Ankerberg and Weldon, Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs, xi.

357 Easton, “Shirley MacLaine’s Mysticism for the Masses: She’s the Super Saleswoman for a Fast-

Growing New Age Movement.”

358 Ibid.


Believe, Kindle, 289.

360 William Warch, The New Thought Christian: An Introduction to the Life-Changing Concepts of New

Thought (Camarillo, CA: DeVorss Publications, 1977), Kindle, 138.

361 Ibid.

125

Salvation of Humanity: Atonement vs. Hidden Knowledge

Christianity. Throughout Scripture, the solution to humanity’s problem of sin has been

an atoning sacrifice. The first clear example of the requirement for an atoning sacrifice comes

from the Passover. Exodus 12 states that “an unblemished . . . male . . . from either the sheep or

goats” must be killed, and then, “some of the blood” must be “put on the two doorposts and the

lintel of the houses” of all of the Hebrews.362 If this was done, God said, “I will pass through the

land of Egypt on that night and strike every firstborn male in the land of Egypt . . . the blood on

the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I

will pass over you.”363 As a direct result of the sacrifice of a perfect lamb, God passed over them

when meting out His wrath in judgment.364 1 Peter 1:13-21 picks up on the idea of the Passover

lamb and argues that the lamb’s blood “is now the redeeming blood of Christ Jesus.”365

That the Messiah would have to act as a penal substitutionary sacrifice is also present

throughout the prophets. For example, Isaiah 53 describes God’s servant as one who would be

“pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our

peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds.”366 This verse underscores the reality that

the punishment due for sin will be visited on the Servant of God and that people will have peace

with God through the Servant. This entire section is directly applied to Jesus through 1 Peter

362 Exodus 12: 5, 7.

363 Exodus 12:12-13.

364 Jeffery, Ovey, and Sach, Pierced for Our Transgressions: Rediscovering the Glory of Penal

Substitution, 37.

365 Bryan Estelle, Echoes of Exodus: Tracing a Biblical Motif (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2018),

Kindle, 4896.

366 Isaiah 53:5.

126

2:22 and the surrounding context which is a near direct quotation of the Septuagint version of

Isaiah 53:9b.367 This links Jesus’ sacrifice with the Servant’s sacrifice in Isaiah and yields a clear

picture of the interpretation of Jesus’ death as a “penal substitutionary death” that would “make

atonement between [people] and God.”368

Theologically, there have been several ways in which the atonement has been understood

throughout the centuries, some of which are compatible with the biblical data concerning

atonement. For instance, Luther taught:

“before, I had not yet any Lord, nor King, but had been held captive under the devil’s

power, doomed to death, ensnared in sin and blindness…. Now, therefore, those tyrants

and gaolers are all crushed, and in their place is come Jesus Christ, a Lord of Life,

righteousness, all good and holiness, and He has snatched us poor lost men from the jaws

of hell, won us, made us free, and brought us back to the Father’s goodness and grace.”369

Whereas theories of penal substitutionary atonement focus on the absolute necessity of Christ’s

sacrifice in overcoming the debt of sin and appeasing the wrath of God, there are a number of

other things that the atonement accomplishes as well which fit under the doctrine called

“Christus Victor.”370 For instance, not only does sin incur a punishment, it also breaks

relationships, disturbs peace or shalom, causes “rebellion against authority,” makes things

ritually unclean, brings “shame and disgrace on oneself,” and causes physical and spiritual

death.371

367 J. Ramsey Michaels, 1 Peter, Word Bible Commentary (Waco, TX: Word, 1988), 144.

368 Jeffery, Ovey, and Sach, Pierced for Our Transgressions: Rediscovering the Glory of Penal

Substitution, 67.

369 Martin Luther, Luthers Works (Weimar Edition), XX., 334f as cited in Gustaf Aulén, Christus Victor,

trans. A.G. Hebert (Austin, TX: Wise Path Books, 2016), Kindle, 1852.


371 Jeremy Treat, The Crucified King: Atonement and Kingdom in Biblical and Systematic Theology (Grand

Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014), 195.

127

The traditional problem with “Christus Victor” is that it attempts to explain the

atonement entirely in terms of “victory over the hostile powers” which “brings to pass a new

relation, a relation of reconciliation, between God and the world.”372 However, affirming that

penal substitutionary atonement is the means by which Christ obtains this victory maintains that

PSA is at the core of atonement, and brings into view the reality of the victory over “the forces of

evil and sin.”373 In this way, modern theologians have done justice to the verses which mention

this type of victory including: Revelation 12:9-11—“They conquered him by the blood of the

Lamb and by the word of their testimony;” 1 John 3:4-9—"The Son of God was revealed for this

purpose: to destroy the Devil’s works;” Colossians 2:13-15—“He erased the certificate of debt,

with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by

nailing it to the cross . . . He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; He

triumphed over them by Him.”374 In conclusion, the Christian view of the solution to the problem

of sin is the atonement of Christ. In this atonement, Jesus pays the penalty due for sin (death)

through which He then secures victory for believers and ultimately for God Himself over

Satan.375

372 Lindsey Hall, Murray Rae, and Steve Holmes, Christian Doctrine (London, U.K.: SCM Press, 2010),

208.

373 Treat, The Crucified King: Atonement and Kingdom in Biblical and Systematic Theology, 205.

374 Revelation 12:9-11; 1 John 3:4-9; Colossians 2:13-15.

375 Erickson, Christian Theology, 825-840. The atonement is one aspect of the full program of salvation

that God carries out in the lives of the elect. Evangelicals disagree on the ordo salutis, or the order in which

salvation events occur. This dissertation will not take any specific stance on one particular view as the point is to

provide a comparison to New Age Movement theology, not to argue for a specific instance of Christian doctrine.

However, evangelical theology has traditionally held to the following concepts (ordinals are not reflective of the

ordo salutis). First, salvation must include the rectification of one’s guilt before God. This rectification is known as

justification which occurs by grace through faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Second, sin corrupted the

heart of mankind so that his propensity was toward rebellion against God and moral failure. God’s solution to this

issue is spiritual regeneration or being born again. Though this process, a person is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and

their inclination is now directed toward God and holiness. Third, through the power of the Holy Spirit, believers

128

New Age Movement. Due to its denial of sin, the New Age Movement takes a radically

different approach to the solution to mankind’s problems than the Bible does. Marilyn Ferguson

sums up the Aquarian gospel saying, “the central idea was always the same: Only through a new

mind can humanity remake itself, and the potential for such a new mind is natural.”376

Foundational to New Age belief is the idea that the human mind is ignorant and deficient and

that it must strive to attain a higher consciousness in order to become perfect. In line with

transcendentalist thinking, New Age leaders affirm that people should embrace “the expansive or

self-transcending impulse of the self, [and] its desire to embrace the whole world in the

experience of a single moment and to know and become one with that world.”377

This type of thinking later became known in the New Age Movement as “the mind cure”

which, similar to MacLaine’s “super soul,” contains the “occult power of making over the world

in one’s own conscious imagery.”378 NAM teaching asserts that through this heightened

consciousness, the distinction of “I-Thou” that is the root cause of humanity’s problems ceases to

exist and rather than engaging in hate, violence, and crime, people will simply “feel as if you

want to make love to the Cosmos.”379 Rather than needing to pay a penalty or atone for past

wrongs, the New Age Movement teaches that the path to salvation is change: change in one’s

consciousness will bring about the social change that we wish to see. NAM leaders

undergo the process of sanctification by which they are progressively made holy. This process comes to completion

only after death. Fourth, salvation is perfected after death in the event called glorification and through the general

resurrection of believers when death is finally undone.


377 David Bowers, “Democratic Vistas,” in Brian Barbour, American Transcendentalism: An Anthology of

Criticism (Notre Dame, IN: Notre Dame University Press, 1973), 17.

378 Carl Raschke, The Interruption of Eternity: Modern Gnosticism and the Origins of the New Religious

Consciousness (Chicago, IL: Nelson-Hall Publishers, 1980), 179.

379 Ferguson, The Aquarian Conspiracy: Personal and Social Transformation in Our Time, 435,438.

129

fundamentally deny that there is anything inherently wrong with humanity that needs to be

atoned for. In fact, NAM leaders affirm that “sacrifice is a notion totally unknown to God . . .

[and] sacrificing in any way is a violation . . . you should be merciful even as your Father in

Heaven is merciful.”380 Thus, the NAM affirms a new consciousness approach to salvation over

an atonement-based salvation.

Agent of Salvation: God and Grace vs. Humanity and Works

Christianity. The New Testament contains a number of verses that explicitly affirm the

sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice. For instance, Acts 4:12 records that “there is salvation in no one

else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people, and we must be saved by it.”381

Similarly, Romans 8:1 argues that “there is therefore no condemnation for those who are in

Christ Jesus.”382 The New Testament also presents a unified view on faith being the sole means

through which people receive Christ’s atonement. Romans 5:1 states, “therefore, since we have

been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The Gospel of

John articulates a similar view saying, “truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal

life.”383 Ephesians 2:8-10 demonstrates that works are a product of one’s faith in God and one’s

justification, not the cause of it: “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from

yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are His creation,

380 Schucman, A Course in Miracles, 813.

381 Acts 4:12.

382 Romans 8:1.

383 John 6:47.

130

created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should

walk in them.”384

This verse is vital to the conversation on salvation by faith as upon cursory reading,

James 2:24 seems to say the opposite: “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith

alone.”385 With regard to this verse, New Testament scholar, Frances Gench, states “Paul is

dealing . . . with how new life begins; James, however, is dealing with . . . how Christian life

grows and matures.”386 Rather than attempting to demonstrate that a person is literally saved by

works and faith, James’ statement should be read as, “by works a person is shown to be

justified.”387 This is a vital distinction to make as otherwise James would be read in complete

disagreement with Paul and would be a direct violation of infallibility.

One of the main disagreements between the Protestant branch of Christianity and the

Roman Catholic branch concerns the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice for the propitiation of

sins.388 Catholicism affirms “the exclusivity of Christ,” but denies that Christ’s work is sufficient

grounds for justification saying, “If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified;

[meaning] that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining the grace of

Justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the


385 James 2:24.

386 Frances Taylor Gench, Hebrews and James, Westminster Bible Companion (Louisville, KY:

Westminster John Knox Press, 1996), 106.

387 Craig Blomberg and Mariam Kamell, James, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament

(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008), Kindle, 3961.

388 Wellum, Christ Alone: The Uniqueness of Jesus as Savior: What the Reformers Taught . . . and Why It

Still Matters.

131

movement of his own will; let him be anathema.”389 Again, the issue is not that Christ is not the

only way to salvation, but rather, Christ and man must “co-operate” in order to receive

justification, thus His sacrifice is not sufficient. Church historian, Gregg Allison, argues that it is

not that Catholic doctrine requires works per say, but that Catholicism heavily emphasizes the

“Christ-Church interconnection” to the point of claiming that the sacraments of the Church

“confer grace” in their administration.390

In contrast, the Protestant Church affirms the strict doctrine of solus Christus, which

states that faith in Christ’s sacrifice alone is enough to receive total justification from sins. One

of the keys to understanding and defending the Protestant doctrine is demonstrating that what

Jesus suffered was the fullness of the wrath of God that believers deserve. This is depicted in

brutal color in Matthew 20. James’ and John’s mother came to Jesus requesting that they be

given the highest positions in the coming kingdom of God. Jesus then responds, “You don’t

know what you’re asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?”391 The

reference to the cup was generally understood to refer to “suffering, especially that caused by

God’s wrath.”392 The disciples response that they could indeed “drink the cup,” which “simply

shows that they still do not understand.”393 Jesus’s initial question affirmed that the cup of the

wrath of God was something that only He could drink, and that once done, the wrath of God

389 The Catholic Church, The Council of Trent: Sixth Session, Canons, n.d., accessed June 9, 2020,

http://traditionalcatholic.net/Tradition/Council/Trent/Sixth_Session,_Canons.html.

390 Gregg Allison, Roman Catholic Theology and Practice: An Evangelical Assessment (Wheaton, IL:

Crossway, 2014), 42-67; The Catholic Church, The Council of Trent: Eighth Session, Canons, n.d., accessed June 9,

2020, http://traditionalcatholic.net/Tradition/Council/Trent/Sixth_Session,_Canons.html.

391 Matthew 20:22.

392 Blomberg, Matthew, vol. 22, Kindle, 7890.


132

would be fully dealt with. In conclusion, the Bible teaches that Christ’s sacrifice alone is

sufficient to propitiate the sins of mankind. Additionally, contra to the Catholic Church, the

Sacraments are not required in order to partake of the sacrifice of Jesus. However, either way,

neither branch of Christianity holds that man’s own contrivances can bring about justification.

New Age Movement. NAM doctrine is explicitly works based in its approach to human

salvation. The starting point of the New Age adherent is a condition in which the person is under

“an illusion” that he or she is “limited and finite.”394 The only way to transcend this illusion is

through the acquisition of knowledge.395 However, it is not factual, verbal, head knowledge that

must be acquired. Virtually every New Age follower asserts the belief that he or she is part of the

god substance, but that assertion does not itself bring enlightenment. Rather, New Age members

must engage in a variety of practices through which they can gain a spiritual awareness of the

verbal truth. It is this spiritual awareness that is the key to achieving salvation or knowledge of

the truth about one’s divinity.

For example, New Age guru, Werner Erhard, developed an enlightenment training, called

E.S.T. (Erhard Seminars Training), through which one could come to know his or her “true

(divine) potential.”396 The core of the trainings involves “lectures, mental exercises sometimes

involving altered states of consciousness, and group ‘sharing’ of feelings and experiences.”397

Enlightenment involves the realization that one is personally in control of and responsible for

everything that has happened to them as they are “‘gods’ who create their own reality and


395 Karen Hoyt, The New Age Rage (Old Tappan, NJ: Revell, 1987), 20.

396 Ankerberg and Weldon, Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs, 259-260.


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destiny.”398 Aside from E.S.T., New Age adherents turn to Astrology, channeling, meditation,

muscle testing, crystal work, and visualization in order to achieve this heightened state of divine

consciousness.399 In conclusion, the New Age Movement promotes a path to salvation that is

completely within the control and responsibility of the individual. No one can achieve

enlightenment for another, rather, the individual must find his or her own path to divinity.

Purpose of Salvation: Sanctification and Holiness vs. Consciousness of Divinity

Christianity. Sanctification is fundamental to the Christian life and to Christian

eschatology. It is the “process by which God works to make his children holy in character” and

sets them “apart for Himself.”400 The aspect of setting apart is exemplified by statements like, “to

those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus and called as saints,” which speak of sanctification in

completed terms.401 This is consistent with the Old Testament understanding of sanctification, by

which both people and objects were made clean or positionally sanctified (“consecrated”) in

order to work in the Temple and be in God’s presence.402

The other aspect of sanctification is progressive and is carried by the Holy Spirit in the

lives of believers. Though this type of sanctification requires the cooperation of the believer, it is

still “a supernatural work of God.”403 For example, Ephesians 3:16 states that believers will be


399 Ibid, v.

400 Graham Cole, He Who Gives Life: The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, Foundations of Evangelical

Theology (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2007), Kindle, 5562.


402 Leviticus 11:44.


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“strengthened with power in the inner man through His Spirit.”404 In Galatians, Paul writes that

when people “walk by the Spirit” they will “not carry out the desire of the flesh” and will not

engage in all variety of immorality because the Spirit of God produces “fruit” in the life of the

believer.405 Additionally, one cannot expect to become fully sanctified while on the earth

because we are at war, “for though we live in the body, we do not wage war in an unspiritual

way;” however, heaven is filled with the “spirits of righteous people made perfect.”406

Theologically, both Catholic and Protestant branches have differed from the Orthodox

branch on the topic of sanctification. The Orthodox view of “deification,” or “theosis,” was first

expounded by Irenaeus, who said, “Who for His immense love’s sake was made that which we

are, in order that He might perfect us to be what He is.”407 The primary biblical justification for

this doctrine is 2 Peter 1:4, which states, “By these He has given us very great and precious

promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature.”408 The concept of sharing in

the divine nature has persisted as a central tenet of the Orthodox faith to this day. The Antiochian

Orthodox Archdiocese states that “theosis is the understanding that human beings can have real

union with God, and so become like God to such a degree that we participate in the divine

nature.”409 Though this might initially seem like an acceptance of mankind’s ability to

404 Ephesians 3:16.

405 Galatians 5:16-23.

406 2 Corinthians 10:3; Hebrews 12:23.

407 Saint Irenaeus, Five Books of S. Irenaeus Bishop of Lyons Against Heresies, trans. John Keble (Oxford,

England: James Parker and Co., 1872).

408 2 Peter 1:4.

409 Mark Shuttleworth, “Theosis: Partaking of the Divine Nature,” Antiochian Orthodox Christian

Archdiocese of North America, n.d., accessed June 10, 2020, http://ww1.antiochian.org/content/theosis-partaking-

divine-nature.

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ontologically become deity, it is not. Rather, theosis is the process by which “we achieve union

with God . . . through the divine energies” and not through union with God’s essence.410

Concerning 2 Peter 1:4, Bauckham argues that “it is not very likely that participation in

God’s own essence is intended” as “to share in divine nature is to become immortal and

incorruptible.”411 Thus, in agreement with the Orthodox church, any attempt to use this verse to

justify transmutation of essence is erroneous. However, the terminology of deification can be

easily misconstrued, so Rakestraw argues that we should not talk of human beings “becoming

God” or “divinization” or “deification,” but rather, we should speak of “becoming like God” as

found in 1 John 2:6, 1 Peter 2:21, 1 Corinthians 11:1, Ephesians 4:22-24, 1 John 3:2, 2

Corinthians 3:18, and Ephesians 5:1.412 In conclusion, the Christian doctrine of sanctification, in

all branches of Christianity, denies that Christians share ontologically in the essence of God.

Rather, to varying degrees, they argue that sanctification is a process by which people become

set apart as holy before the Lord and attain to perfect moral character by His power.

New Age Movement. The New Age version of sanctification is the progressive evolution

of the spirit by which “man [is] in the process of evolving from his current status to yet a higher

being,” namely god.413 One of the main proponents of this ascension to divinity was Mary Baker

410 Shuttleworth, “Theosis: Partaking of the Divine Nature.”

411 Richard Bauckham, Jude, 2 Peter, vol. 50, Word Bible Commentary (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1983), 2

Peter 1:4.

412 Robert Rakestraw, “Becoming like God: An Evangelical Doctrine of Theosis,” Journal of Evangelical

Theological Society 40, no. 2 (June 1997): 266.

413 Martin, The Kingdom of the Occult, Kindle, 4163. One of the more interesting New Age incorporations

of other worldviews can be seen in how NAM leaders modified physical evolution to reflect the spiritual realm. For

instance, Human Potential cults believed that “Darwinian evolution was part of their process” to attain higher

spiritual ascendency. Additionally, NAM leaders saw Christianity as a “blockade” to their ideology due to its

anthropological convictions that mankind was created complete and does not evolve.

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Eddy and the Church of Christian Science. In her seminal work, Science and Health with Key to

the Scriptures, she stated that “there is no life, truth, intelligence nor substance in matter. All is

infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-All.”414 Thus as one recognizes this

maxim, one will ascend on the path to divinity. One New Age leader of the Theosophy cult,

Louis Rogers, articulated this doctrine by saying that mankind “is an embryo-god, being destined

to ultimately evolve his latent powers into perfect expression.”415

The process of ascension is entirely self-dependent; Rogers explicitly denies that the

sacrifice of Christ “has relieved man from the necessity of developing his spiritual nature . . .

[and] nullif[ied] his personal responsibility for any evil he has done.”416 Instead, New Age

members must utilize a variety of means to gain power and knowledge that will allow them to

ascend to divinity. For instance, knowledge can be attained through the spiritual world through

astrology, horoscopes, the zodiac, automatic writing, clairaudience and clairvoyance, divination,

mediums, numerology, out-of-body experiences, parapsychology, spirit guides, and telepathy.417

These practices are seen as ways that people are “participating in God as individualized

manifestations of [the] Ultimate Unifying Principle and as channels of the universal energy to the

world.”418 In conclusion, sanctification in the New Age Movement is not about being set apart,

nor moral perfection. Instead, it is concerned with the processes and practices that can allow a

person to evolve from a spiritually ignorant state to a fully divine state.

414 Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (Boston, MA: Trustees under the will

of Mary Baker Eddy, 1934), 468.

415 L. W. Rogers, Elementary Theosophy (Wheaton, IL: The Theosophical Press, 1956), 18.

416 Ibid, 181.

417 Martin, The Kingdom of the Occult, Kindle, 4254-4299.


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Result of Salvation: Resurrection vs. Divinity

Christianity. The end goal of salvation for the Christian is glorification. The Scripture

references that deal with the concept of glorification are some of the most exciting and uplifting

verses in the entire Bible. At the core of glorification is the concept of resurrection and eternal

life. Jesus promises in John 11 that He is “the resurrection and the life” and that “the one who

believes in Me, even if he dies, will live.”419 This verse captures both a present and future reality.

In the present, people who believe in Jesus have eternal life, which is “that they may know you,

the only true God, and the One You have sent—Jesus Christ.”420

In the future, Paul claims that just as “God raised the Lord,” so will He “also raise us up

by His power.”421 The resurrection results in the complete undoing of physical death through

which believers will receive a new body. This body is described in magnificent detail in 1

Corinthians 15 as being “raised in incorruption . . . glory . . . [and] power.”422 Additionally,

though the body is a “spiritual body,” this is simply a statement of contrast with the “natural

body” which exhibits “corruption,” “dishonor,” and “weakness;” it is not a statement that the

resurrection body is not physical.423 New Testament scholar, N. T. Wright, agrees with this

assessment by uncovering that the distinction of “spiritual” and “natural” and the meaning of

“flesh and blood” are not references to the physicality/non-physicality issue, rather they refer to

the “corruptible physicality”/“incorruptible physicality” issue.424 The beauty of the resurrection

419 John 11:25.

420 Klink, John, Kindle, 13767; John 17:3.




424 N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope (New York City, NY: HarperCollins, 2008), Kindle, 2471.

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is that believers will no longer have to deal with “sickness, injury, decay, and death” because the

“new body will be immortal.”425

One of the more prominent historical heresies, called Docetism, held as its central point

that the resurrection of Jesus was not real and thus that the future resurrection of believers would

not occur.426 Threads of Docetism can be found in early writings like the apocryphal Gospel of

Peter which presents Jesus as disturbingly aloof during the crucifixion and “feeling no pain.”427

Church historian J. Kelly asserts that statements like these indicated a belief that Jesus’ “bodily

make-up was illusory.”428 The gnostic documents of the Nag Hammadi detail the Docetic ideal

in full as they attribute sayings to Christ that are in explicit denial of His resurrection and by

extension the resurrection of believers. For instance, they record that Jesus stated that “I did not

die in reality but in appearance,” “I suffered according to their sight and thought,” and “for my

death which they think happened, (happened) to them in their error and blindness.”429 This view

has resurfaced in modern liberal theological circles through scholars like Shelby Spong, who

asserts that “viewing the resurrection of Jesus as physical resuscitation was a late developing

tradition in early Christianity.”430

425 Wright, Surprised by Hope, Kindle, 2537.

426 N. T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God, vol. 3, Christian Origins and the Question of God

(London, U.K.: Fortress Press, 2003), Kindle, 10903.

427 Raymond Brown, trans., “Gospel of Peter,” n.d., accessed June 10, 2020,

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/gospelpeter-brown.html, 10.

428 J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines (Peabody, MA: Prince Press, 2004), 141.

429 Taken from Paul Gavrilyuk, Sufferings of the Impassible God: The Dialectics of Patristic Thought,

Oxford Early Christian Studies (Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 2006), 81.

430 John Shelby Spong, Why Christianity Must Change or Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers in Exile (San

Francisco, CA: HarperOne, 2009).

139

The early church fathers rigorously defended against these views. Ignatius in particular

denounced this understanding of Christ and the Resurrection saying, “the unbelieving, say, He

became man in appearance [only], that He did not in reality take unto Him a body, that He died

in appearance [merely], and did not in very deed suffer.”431 He also affirmed that “He was

crucified in reality, and not in appearance, not in imagination, not in deceit . . . he really died,

and was buried, and rose from the dead . . . therefore, who raised Him up, will also raise us up

through Him, apart from whom no one will attain to true life.”432 One of the better arguments

against Docetism comes from Irenaeus who stated that “He had Himself, therefore, flesh and

blood, recapitulating in Himself not a certain other, but that original handiwork of the Father,

seeking out that thing which had perished . . . because the righteous flesh has reconciled that

flesh which was being kept under bondage in sin, and brought it into friendship with God.”433

Thus, Christ had to take on real flesh and be physically resurrected, so God could reconcile the

totality of human nature to Himself. In conclusion, the Bible and orthodox Christianity have

maintained the physicality of the resurrection and its superiority over remaining in a

disembodied state. The process of resurrection is known as glorification and is one aspect of the

future hope that Christians look forward to in eternity.

New Age Movement. The fundamental end of mankind in the New Age Movement is

not restoration, reconciliation, nor a resurrection body; rather, it is the attainment of full divinity.

431 Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, eds., “The Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians,” in The Ante-

Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325, vol. 1 (Buffalo, NY: The Christian

Literature Company, 1885), X.

432 Ibid.

433 Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, eds., “Irenaeus: Against Heresies,” in The Ante-Nicene

Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325, vol. 1 (Buffalo, NY: The Christian

Literature Company, 1885), V. XIV, 2.

140

However, it is not often clear exactly what the attainment of godhood will bring about. Often,

divinity is referenced by using vague language like “divine spark” or “droplet of divinity.”434

Some New Age proponents emphasize that the blessing of becoming one with god is the “cosmic

connection” that is developed through which people can become “channels for the universe.”435

This connection then fuels people with boundless ecstatic love and acceptance.436 NAM leader,

Matthew Fox, argues that the primary benefit of becoming one with the Cosmos is the reception

and utilization of “creativity” which is “a cosmic energy.”437 In his understanding, when a person

is able to engage in “true nothingness” and learns to develop a “reverence for the dark,” one can

embrace the “awesomeness and the responsibility of our creativity.”438 When one fully engages

as creation/god, one realizes that one has the power to create one’s own reality and the reality

that he or she has been living has been one of his or her own creation without knowing it.

One of the more fascinating corollaries of New Age Movement theology is the realization

that one cannot encounter truly “other” minds in light of the universal consciousness. When she

had arrived at the end state of her quest into higher consciousness, MacLaine claimed that “I was

the only person alive in my universe.”439 The New Age Movement’s assertion that individual

people are only instantiations of “The One Mind” fundamentally destroys any possibility of

434 Wouter Hanegraaff, New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular

Thought (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1998), 204; George Trevelyan, Exploration into God

(Bath, U.K.: Gateway Books, 1991), 6; Gary Zukav, Seat of the Soul (New York City, NY: Simon and Schuster,

1989), 185-186.

435 Shakti Gawain, Creative Visualization (Toronto, ON: Bantam Books, 1979), 39-40; Trevelyan,

Exploration into God, 27.


437 Matthew Fox, O.P., Original Blessing (Santa Fe, NM: Bear & Company, 1983), 176.

438 Matthew Fox, O.P., Original Blessing (Santa Fe, NM: Bear & Company, 1983), 176, 182.

439 MacLaine, It’s All in the Playing, 171.

141

eternal community. In decreeing that one is “one” with the Cosmos, there can be no recognition

of individuality. Thus, though there is endless ecstatic “love,” there is no eternal loving

community. In conclusion, the New Age understanding of enlightenment is the actualization of

becoming one with the impersonal god-force cosmic energy that unites all material things.

Sin and Salvation Criteria

Table 3.4 Sin and Salvation Criteria

Criterion

Number


Teaching

1 Problem with humanity Humanity has sinned

against God and is

separate from God

Ignorance of divine

nature and true self

2 Consequence of problem Spiritual and physical

death; eternity in hell

Continual

reincarnation

3 Baseline state of humanity Unholy, not good,

sinful

Humanity is

essentially good

4 Solution to the problem:

mode

Penal substitutionary

atonement

Acquisition of hidden

or gnostic knowledge

5 Solution to the problem:

means

Faith in Jesus and His

sacrifice

Spiritual encounters

and religious

practices lead to

enlightened

consciousness

142

6 Works versus faith

salvation

Jesus’ atonement on

the cross is fully

sufficient for

salvation; faith is all

that is required

NAM practices

require continual

work and are not

sufficient for total

enlightenment

7 Sanctification: definition Process by which

God makes believers

holy in character and

set apart for Himself

Process by which

adherents become

aware of their

connection to the

Cosmos and discover

their true self

8 Sanctification: means The Holy Spirit,

through the

regenerate heart and

cooperation of the

believer, purge sin

from his or her life

Increased

participation in

spiritual practices

causes individuals to

become aware of

their divine nature

9 Destiny of mankind Glorification through

the general

resurrection (new

physical body),

completion of

sanctification, and

Deification through

becoming one with

the Cosmos; no

resurrection of the

physical body, only

reincarnation

143

reception of eternal

life

10 Eschatological community Eternal community of

morally perfect

beings

Recognition of the

individual as alone in

the universe

Spirituality

Introduction

This section will present a theology for spirituality from the perspectives of the Old

Testament, the New Testament, and the New Age Movement. Each subsection will address both

authentic spirituality as well as inauthentic spirituality. After the conclusion of this section, a

chart of dichotomies will be developed from its material. This chart will be used in the

assessment of church practices.

Definition of spirituality and its relationship to worship. The Evangelical Dictionary

of Theology defines spirituality as “the state of deep relationship to God.”440 Don Saliers

provides a helpful expansion of this definition, saying that spirituality is “humanity at full stretch

before God in relation to world and to neighbor,” or “humanity at full stretch as animated by the

Holy Spirit of God—coming alive to the depths and heights and ordinariness of being human in

the image of God shown in Jesus the Christ.”441 In an evangelical framework, this means that

true spirituality is intrinsically linked to both Scripture and worship. First, Scripture is the only

440 Walter A. Elwell, “Spirituality,” Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker

Academic, 2001), 1138.

441 Don E. Saliers, Worship and Spirituality, 2nd ed. (Ashland City, TN: OSL Publications, 1996), 1-2.

144

source of authoritative information about the image of God and Jesus Christ as the perfect image

of God. Scripture is also the only authority on the work of the Holy Spirit. Thus, a proper

understanding of spirituality requires a proper relationship to and use of the Word of God.

Second, in terms of worship’s role in spirituality, Romans 12:1 provides a helpful

connection: “therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a

living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship.”442 In his commentary

on Romans, Thiselton argues that the key to spiritual life is a “‘profound transformation’, which

is ‘not the Christian’s own doing but the work of the Holy Spirit.’”443 Romans defines this

transformation as being by God’s mercy and as a “living sacrifice” that is “spiritual worship.”444

Anders Nygren points out that the type of sacrifice Paul is referring to is found in Romans 12:2

and includes the “mind” being renewed in Christ.445 Thiselton, agrees, saying that the “renewal

of the mind is crucial for Christians, because…Christians must not let themselves be moulded by

the world.”446 In conclusion, the end goal of spirituality as deepening one’s relationship with

God can be effected only by the power of God through the Holy Spirit. This work is

accomplished practically through the Spirit’s empowerment to be conformed to the perfect image

of God, Jesus Christ, as an act of worship under the direction of the Word of God. Thus,

authentic spirituality hinges on one’s understanding of authentic worship as detailed by

Scripture.

442 Romans 12:1 443 C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans 9-16, vol. 2, International Critical Commentary (Edinburgh, U.K.: T&T

Clark, 2004), 607 as cited in Anthony Thiselton, Discovering Romans: Content, Interpretation, and Reception

(Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2016), 221. 444 Romans 12:1, the use of sōmata in this verse should be taken to refer to the whole person given the

emphasis on the renewal of the mind in the next verse. 445 Anders Nygren, Commentary on Romans (London, U.K.: SCM, 1952), 418. 446 Thiselton, Discovering Romans: Content, Interpretation, and Reception, 221.

145

Ross provides a good framework for understanding worship, stating that worship is “the

structured and ordered expression of the proper response of the people of God to the revelation

of God in Christ.”447 When people engage in worship with the proper heart and through the

proper rituals, they are filled with “adoration and praise” for the triune God of Christianity. In

this “transcendent meeting with the living God,” what is typically seen as routine becomes “life-

changing and life-defining.”448 Unfortunately, with the modern rejection of the authority and

sufficiency of Holy Scripture as the authoritative Word of God, people look to cultivate

transcendent spiritual experiences “everywhere” else including: yoga, Transcendental

Meditation, Eastern mysticism, sex, music, art, mind-altering drugs, and rituals.449 In contrast to

these practices, true worship and true spirituality are defined through direct divine revelation

from God. The next section will examine Old Testament passages that deal with the proper form

of worship for the Israelites as a covenant people and draw applications that are still relevant for

Christians today.

447 Allen Ross, Recalling the Hope of Glory: Biblical Worship from the Garden to the New Creation (Grand

Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic & Professional, 2006), Kindle, 385.

448 Ross, Recalling the Hope of Glory, Kindle, 268.

449 John Stott, “Christian Ministry in the 21st Century Part 1: The World’s Challenge to the Church,”

Bibliotheca Sacra 145, no. 578 (April 1988): 126.

146

Spirituality in the Old Testament

Authentic spirituality: types of proscribed spiritual practices. The Old Testament

proscribes a wide variety of activities and rituals that all constitute the proper means by which

mankind may interact with God and worship God. First, as a direct corollary of its definition,

worship occurs through and as a response to the proclamation of the Word of God.450 Psalm 29

provides a poetic picture of the power of the Word of God in worship. The psalm begins with an

entreaty to “ascribe to Yahweh” the truth about His nature and character as revealed through

Scripture.451 Next, the psalmist asserts that the “voice of the Lord” has “power,” “splendor,” and

“shatters the cedars of Lebanon.”452 Each of these images speaks of God’s voice and His Word

as having the power to effect real change in the world. The psalmist asserts God’s total

sovereignty over everything that happens as is affirmed by the double mention of the Lord sitting

“enthroned, King forever.”453

The Word of God is also tied to obedience—another aspect of worship and spirituality—

as seen when the psalmist declared: “I have treasured Your word in my heart so that I may not

sin against You.”454 Additionally, the Word of God in proclamation is tied to praise, for the same

psalmist rejoices in the fact that “with my lips I proclaim all the judgments from Your mouth . . .

I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget Your word.”455 That the Word of God is also

450 Deuteronomy 17:18-20; Deuteronomy 32:46-47; Psalm 1:1-3.

451 Psalm 29:1-2.

452 Psalm 29:3-5.

453 Psalm 29:10.

454 Psalm 119:11.

455 Psalm 119: 13-16.

147

“firmly fixed in heaven,” and “a lamp for my feet and a light on my path” is indicative that it

should be directing every moral and worshipful action of the human being.456

To proclaim God’s Word, to assert the truth of who God is, to remind people of the

covenants God has made with them, and to invite people to reaffirm their “allegiance to one

sovereign, holy—but invisible—God” is at the core of the proper worship.457 Thus, acts which

constitute true worship must simultaneously exemplify the revelation of the one true God and as

denunciations of “pagan worship as a futile lie.”458 Authentic spirituality must, in its very

content, “expose” the “works” of the world which do not bring “profit,” as they are

fundamentally idolatrous and so superfluous that “a breath will take them away.”459 Thus,

spiritual practice and rituals cannot be separated from theology. Otherwise, “true worship would

become hopelessly entangled with false worship.”460

Second, true worship and spirituality involve proper sacrifice, which is necessitated by

God’s holiness. One of the central motifs of Scripture is the idea of a “holy dwelling.”461 God’s

manifest presence, as found in the Garden of Eden, the Tabernacle, and Solomon’s Temple, will

not abide the presence of sin, sinful beings, or defiled objects.462 The only way in which people

can draw near to God in worship is through a proper sacrifice. The story of Cain and Abel

456 Psalm 119:89,105.

457 Ross, Recalling the Hope of Glory: Biblical Worship from the Garden to the New Creation, Kindle,

1100.


459 Isaiah 57:9-13.


1110.

461 Ibid, Kindle, 1786-1850.

462 Leviticus 16.

148

provides the template for the type of sacrifice that God requires in worship. First, Cain brings an

offering of vegetation while Abel brings an offering of an animal sacrifice.463 This mirrors Adam

and Eve’s attempt to cover with vegetation versus God’s covering through animal hide.464 In

both of these accounts, God denied man’s own capability to provide for himself outside of the

garden and instead affirmed that man would need to rely on God’s provision even though he

would now lack His direct presence. In this way, proper worship reinforces the necessity of

mankind’s reliance on God both in general and in anticipation of the necessity of a God provided

sacrifice for atonement from sins.

The sacrifice must also be representative of the best one has to offer in order to constitute

authentic worship. In the case of Cain and Abel, Cain’s sacrifice was designated as “some of the

land’s produce,” indicating that what was given was not distinguishable from the rest of what

Cain produced.465 In contrast, Abel offered “the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions”

which indicated that he presented a sacrifice that was truly a sacrifice to give.466 This ties directly

into the holiness of God as only a sacrifice that was itself unblemished could actually serve as an

atonement sacrifice. Only something ritually clean could purify something that was ritually

unclean.467

Third, true spiritual worship must involve praising YHWH. This aspect flows directly

from the need to receive atonement from sin—and often, from the need to receive deliverance

463 Genesis 4:3-4.

464 Genesis 3:7,21

465 Genesis 4:3.

466 Genesis 4:4.

467 Leviticus 16:15-19.

149

and restoration after a time of divine punishment or exile. One of the best examples of this is the

song of Israel to the Lord recorded immediately after the Israelites deliverance from the

Egyptians during the time of Moses and the Exodus.468 In this song, God is praised for being

their “salvation” and for being holy and unique.469 The praise offered in this song is an indication

that the Israelites “had been accepted into the presence of God.”470 Additionally, praise for God

could be offered at any time with regard to any encounter with God or His Word. Praise was also

fundamentally structured into the lives of the Jewish people through seasonal proscriptions in the

Torah. Thus, any act, ritual, or practice should point to God as the source of blessing,

deliverance, or forgiveness and should result in His praise.

Authentic spirituality: heart of the worshipper. In addition to the types of spiritual

practices that are ordained by God, Scripture also speaks directly about the heart behind one’s

worship or spiritual practice. Psalm 40:6 states that God does “not delight in sacrifice and

offering;” but rather, He delights in people doing His will and when His “instruction lives”

within people.471 Hosea 6:6 argues a similar point, saying “For I desire loyalty and not sacrifice,

the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”472 Rituals are important in that they represent

a very real necessity that people need God to act on their behalf in order to be restored to Him.

However, those rituals and practices should be conducted with a contrite, humble, and upright

heart. This same heart can be seen behind memorial acts in worship such as the celebration of the

468 Exodus 15.

469 Exodus 15:2,11.


2163.

471 Psalm 40:6-8.

472 Hosea 6:6.

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Passover. The ritualistic act of celebration of this festival naturally leads one to a humble state

before God as it was by His sovereign choice that the Israelites did not suffer the plague of the

first-born.

Going back to the story of Cain and Abel, there are a number of lessons to be learned

about the proper heart of worship as a requirement for authentic spirituality. Genesis 4:4-5 offers

insight into the disposition out of which each sacrifice was given. Abel sacrificed the best he had

knowing that God was worthy of the best his livestock produced. This indicated an attitude of

humility when approaching God. Cain, on the other hand, responded to God’s lack of “regard”

for his sacrifice by being “furious” and looking “despondent.”473 Old Testament scholar,

Kenneth Matthews, states that the primary issue directing God’s response to the sacrifices was

“the integrity of the giver.”474

Later in the story, when God is speaking to Cain, He states that “if you do what is right,

won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door. Its

desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” This is an indication that “Cain’s wicked lifestyle”

was a large part of the reason that Cain’s sacrifice was not accepted, as is reiterated in 1 John

3:12.475 God’s statement brings out another aspect of proper worship and spirituality: obedience

to His commands. This is reiterated throughout the Old Testament. For example, 1 Samuel 15:22

states, “Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the

473 Genesis 4:4-5.

474 Kenneth Mathews, Genesis 1-11:26, vol. 1A, The New American Commentary: New International

Version (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 1996), Kindle, 6273.

475 Jeremy Royal Howard, ed., HCSB Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2010), 14.

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Lord? Look: to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.”476

This verse ties directly back into the definition of worship: “For rebellion is like the sin of

divination, and defiance is like wickedness and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of

the Lord, He has rejected you as king.”477 Disobedience is fundamentally a rejection of the Word

of God. By rejecting the Word of God, one no longer respects the only true source of worship.

Thus, it does not matter what practices or rituals one engages in, they cannot be done in a truly

spiritual sense if they stand against God’s Word.478

Authentic spirituality: specific spiritual activities. There are two classes of spiritual

interactions that are authorized in Scripture. The first class is comprised of those interactions

which involve man connecting directly with God Himself. Going to God directly is often

compared with attempting to approach either God or the spiritual realm indirectly.479 For

example, Isaiah 8:19 attests that people should “consult their God,” rather than “the spirits of the

dead.”480 Authentic contact with God occurs in two forms: “the Lord’s word” and by His “great

power.”481 These two means of communication serve different roles in relationship to God’s

communication with mankind. The power of God, or “signs and wonders” serves the purpose of

476 1 Samuel 15:22.

477 1 Samuel 15:23

478 Further list of verses that defend obedience over sacrifice: Psalm 51:1-16; Jeremiah 7:21-23;

Deuteronomy 5:1-33; Micah 6;8.

479 J. A. Motyer, The Prophecy of Isaiah (Leichester: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 96-97; Leviticus 19:31,

20:2; Deuteronomy 18:11.

480 Isaiah 8:19. Utilization of the Urim and Thummim fall under the category of consulting God directly, as

God is being petitioned directly through divinely appointed means.

481 Jeremiah 32:17 and Psalm 18:30. For reference this view is also affirmed in the New Testament in

Matthew 22:29 and 2 Corinthians 6:7.

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“confirm[ing]” the Word of God that was given through Moses.482 Once the Word of God was

given and affirmed through signs and wonders, it could not be countered by anything, including

future signs and wonders that accompanied a contrary message.483

The second way people are authorized to interact with the spiritual world is through

unprovoked angelic encounters. In Scripture, humans never seek out these encounters, nor do

they ask angels for power; rather, angels are “employed by God to minister to the welfare of

men.”484 For example, God sends angels to communicate His message to people, or to announce

great events—like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.485 Thus, angelic encounters are only

authorized when they are initiated by God and fulfilling His commands.486

In conclusion, authentic spirituality as described by the Old Testament must, at all points,

reference the Word of God, have direct bearing on the atonement of Christ through the cross, and

result in the praise of God for both who He is and what He has done. Any practice fit for spiritual

use must also be able to be done with a contrite heart and humility toward God. In terms of the

types of spirituality that are permitted, the Old Testament provides for God’s voice to encounter

mankind through prophets and angels.

482 Deuteronomy 6:22. For reference, this view is also affirmed in the New Testament in Mark 16:20.

483 Deuteronomy 13:1-2. For reference, the New Testament affirms that all Scripture must be inspired by

God in 2 Timothy 3:15-17.


485 Genesis 19:1-22; Events like the birth and resurrection of Jesus were announced by angels as well in

Luke 1:26-38; John 20:12.

486 Geoffrey Bromiley, “Angel,” Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic,

2001), 61. Theologian G. W. Bromiley argues that Christians should not “deal with angels apart from the biblical

witness.”

153

Prohibited spirituality: source of spiritual error. The key to understanding Old

Testament prohibitions against specific spiritual practices is to understand their link to idolatry.

In 2 Kings, the author records that disaster was brought upon the Israelites because “they had

worshiped other gods . . . [and] had lived according to the customs of the nations the Lord had

dispossessed.”487 Some of the specific practices mentioned in this section are that the Israelites

“practiced divination and interpreted omens.”488 In these verses, idolatry and the customs and

practices of other nations are so tied together that the assumption is that if Israel accepted one

they would quickly adopt the other. This view is also found in the close proximity of Leviticus

18:3 with Leviticus 19:4, which relates God’s commands to “not follow the practices of the land

of Egypt, where you used to live, or follow the practices of the land of Canaan, where I am

bringing you. You must not follow their customs,” and “not turn to idols or make cast images of

gods for yourselves; I am Yahweh your God.”489

The psalms and prophets are also replete with depictions of when the Israelites

syncretized with other nations in terms of both the acceptance of idols and foreign spiritual

practices.490 For instance, Psalm 106 links the two, saying that Israel “mingled with the nations

and adopted their ways . . . [and] served their idols which became a snare to them.”491 Similarly,

Psalm 78 argues that God became angry with Israel when the people “did not keep His decrees”

487 2 Kings 17:7-8.

488 2 Kings 17:17.

489 Leviticus 18:3; 19:4.


3172.

491 Psalm 106:34-36.

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and adopted “carved images” to worship.492 The prophet Jeremiah framed the link between

idolatry and perverse spiritual practices in real world terms. He stated that “My people have

committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own

cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”493 First, this verse indicts the Israelites with idol

worship. Second, God admonishes Israel for seeking water from man-made idols, rather than the

living water from Himself. This false worship led to a lack of the knowledge of “the way of the

Lord, [and] the requirements of their God,” as the people “prophesied by Baal” and engaged in

adultery.494

The connection between spiritual practices and idolatry is due to the belief that idols

could be manipulated into doing what one desired through sympathetic magic. These spiritual

practices utilized “magical operations” to accomplish such tasks as “to destroy masculinity and

battle prowess of the enemy.”495 For instance, the Israelites embraced the Canaanite’s fertility

cult of Ashera, as found in Judges 3:7. In order to ensure their continued fertility—something

YHWH promised through the Abrahamic Covenant—the Israelites turned to Ashera poles and

“the ritual of sympathetic enactment in a local shrine,” which often took the form of temple

prostitution.496 It is important to note that throughout the Old Testament, “any attempt to include

492 Psalm 78:56,58.

493 Jeremiah 2:13.

494 Jeremiah 5:4; 23:10-13.

495 Harry Hoffner, Jr., “Symbols for Masculinity and Feminity: Their Use in Ancient Near Eastern

Sympathetic Magic Rituals,” Journal of Biblical Literature 85, no. 3 (January 1966): 331.


3172.

155

the perverse practices of the world and its false religions in the worship of God will corrupt the

worship and the morals of the participants.”497

Prohibited spirituality: types of forbidden spiritual practices. One of the major

groupings of forbidden practices in the Old Testament is anything that can be categorized as

“magic” or “the use of ritual activities or observances which are intended to influence the course

of events or to manipulate the natural world, usually involving the use of an occult or secret body

of knowledge; sorcery, witchcraft.”498 Deeply intertwined with a person’s ability to utilize magic

to manipulate the physical and spiritual realm is the concept of occult knowledge, which is

“wisdom . . . beyond the range of ordinary human knowledge;” these are gained through the

practice of divination, fortune telling, spiritism (necromancy), and magic.499 Magic and occult

knowledge are used to achieve five main purposes: (1) transformation or translation of mankind

into divinity, (2) internalizing the idea that all is one and all is God, (3) to recognize that

mankind is inherently divine, (4) to realize that mankind is essentially good and “evil is an

illusion or imperfection,” and (5) to gain control over the world through the amplification of

spiritual power through specific spiritual practices.500

One of the dominant occult, spiritual practices that is forbidden throughout the Old

Testament is the practice of divination, which is the “art or science of deducing the future or the

unknown through the observation and interpretation of some facet of nature or human life,


3322.

498 “Magic,” Oxford English Dictionary, n.d., accessed June 2, 2020, www.oed.com.

499 Walter A. Elwell, ed., “Occult,” Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker

Academic, 2001).

500 Ibid.

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ordinarily of an unpredictable or trial character.”501 Scripture issues heavy warnings against

practicing divination and its related practice, fortune-telling. Micah 5:11-12 expressly forbids

“ânan” which is translated fortune-telling or soothsaying. Though it is difficult to tell exactly

what the word means, it is likely linked to the forbidden practice of “nâchash,” found in both

Deuteronomy and Leviticus, which is a reference to prognostication, predicting the future, and

“seeking forbidden knowledge.”502 Though people could and did go to God for wisdom and

knowledge, these aforementioned forbidden practices all reference alternative means of attaining

knowledge. Some examples of the general ban on divination include the interpretation of omens

and seeking after signs and even the reading of entrails.503 Divination even serves as a way

through which heresy was able to enter Israel as Ezekiel records that “they see falsehood and

lying divination who are saying, ‘Did you not see a false vision and speak a lying divination

when you said, ‘The Lord declares,’ but it is not I who have spoken?’”504 Thus, divination is

something that was syncretized with ancient Judaism to devastating effect.

The Bible also explicitly condemns a variety of practices through which divination was

carried out: spiritism, consulting mediums, necromancy. These three terms are significantly

related and represent three types of false prophets who seek revelation through sources other than

501 D. E. Aune, “Divination,” The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Grand Rapids, MI: William

B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1980). Though some have pointed out that numerology is not rejected in

Scripture, it is covered under the injunction of Divination. Numerology is the observation of one’s birth chart which

is a “facet of . . . human life” to gain hidden, occult knowledge. Thus, it is a form of divination and explicitly

rejected by Scripture under the banner of divination.

502 James Strong, “5172 - Nâchash,” Strong’s Complete Word Study Concordance (Chattanooga, TN: AMG

Publishers, 2004), 1918.

503 Ivan Starr, “In Search of Principles of Prognostication in Extispicy,” Hebrew Union College Annual 45

(1974): 17–23; Deuteronomy 13:1-3; 18:10-13; 2 Kings 21:6; Leviticus 19:26.

504 Ezekiel 13:7.

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the God-ordained prophetic-apostolic commission. 505 In general, one who participates in

spiritism, consults a medium, engages in necromancy, or attempts to contact the “spirits of dead

people” does so with the express purpose of learning hidden knowledge.506 This practice and

many others are expressly forbidden in Deuteronomy 18:10-11: “No one among you is to make

his son or daughter pass through the fire, practice divination, tell fortunes, interpret omens,

practice sorcery, cast spells, consult a medium or a familiar spirit, or inquire of the dead.” As

stated in Deuteronomy and 1 Samuel, spiritism also covers any attempt to contact spirits, which

can be seen though heretical examples of false prophets delivering oracles through unclean

spirits or “satanic beings.”507 The primary dictum put forth by this section of Scripture is the idea

that “any means employed by the heathen to gain information from their gods or even to

manipulate them . . . had to be strictly avoided by God’s elect people.”508

A third set of biblically prohibited practices is summed up by the idea of magic rituals

and includes the practice of sorcery and the use of spells. Sorcery was tied to the “ability to

create apparitions” and even manipulate the physical world in the case of the Egyptian magicians

who recreated the early plagues.509 Additionally, sorcerers often pedaled enchantments, herbs,

and amulets that were thought to be able to manipulate the physical world, especially with regard

to fertility. For example, Isaiah’s denunciation of “crescents” in Isaiah 3:18 is a specific

505 Eugene Merrill, Deuteronomy: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture, The New

American Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 1994), 233.

506 Moskala, “Practice of Magic and Occultism in the Old Testament: Presuppositions, Responses, and

God’s Attitude,” 1-2.

507 Nobuyoschi Kiuchi, Leviticus, ed. David W. Baker and Gordon J. Wenham, Apollos Old Testament

Commentary (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007), 373.

508 Merrill, Deuteronomy: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture, 233.

509 Merrill Unger, Biblical Demonology: A Study of Spiritual Forces at Work Today (Grand Rapids, MI:

Kregel Publications, 1994), Kindle, 1370.

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reference to “counter charms worn around the neck to protect against evil spirits, and, as such,

meant an acknowledgement of heathen religion.”510 Additionally, Hosea 2:2’s reference to the

“adultery from between her breasts” is likely a reference to amulets that “signified sympathy and

complicity with heathenism” —even though they were worn for spiritual protection.511

Furthermore, in Deuteronomy 18, the word “kâshaph” which literally means “to whisper a spell”

correlates to “enchant[ing] or practice[ing] magic.”512 Engaging in “kâshaph” amounted to the

“use of supernatural powers that harden hearts against the truth,” thus, in Israel its practice

required execution.513

In conclusion, the predominant reason why God forbade any spiritual practice or ritual

that was not explicitly allowed by Him was due to their dependency on and acceptance of

idolatry.514 Thus, no prophet in the entirety of Scripture ever utilized “magic, incantation, or any

form of divination or manipulation in order to pronounce God’s message.”515 Additionally,

practice of any of these forms of spirituality often came with severe punishments, like being put

to death, being cut off from the people of God, or ultimately, being exiled from the Promised

Land.516 There was no understanding of a cursory or innocuous engagement with these types of

510 Unger, Biblical Demonology, Kindle, 1382.


512 James Strong, “3784 - Kâshaph,” Strong’s Complete Word Study Concordance (Chattanooga, TN: AMG

Publishers, 2004), 1887.

513 Ibid.

514 Unger, Biblical Demonology, Kindle, 1359.

515 Moskala, “Practice of Magic and Occultism in the Old Testament: Presuppositions, Responses, and

God’s Attitude,” 12; Willem A. VanGemeren, Interpreting the Prophetic Word: An Introduction to the Prophetic

Literature of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1990), 16-40.

516 Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 20:6, 26-27; Deuteronomy 18:9-12.

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practices; to buy into them syncretistically, or even a little, was tantamount to “whoredoms” and

carried with it the understanding of a breach in one’s covenant with God.517

Spirituality in the New Testament

Authentic spirituality. As history transitions into the life of Christ and the era of the

Church, there are a number of both continuities and discontinuities to be found with regard to

authentic spirituality and worship. The first major discontinuity came with the announcement

that Jesus is “the light of the world . . . [and] anyone who follows Me will never walk in the

darkness but will have the light of life.”518 This verse marked “a major shift” in how the people

of God would engage in spiritual worship “away from the ritual” and onto Jesus.519 The

sacrificial system set up under the Sinaitic Covenant was only ever able to ceremonially cover

sins so that the people of God could inhabit the Promised Land and the priests could perform

rituals in the Temple; however, through the cross, “God’s wrath against all his people was

propitiated by the once-for-all substitutionary death of his Son.”520 Thus, in terms of worship and

spirituality, it is no longer participation in a series of sacrifices that guides people into a

relationship with God, but rather, Jesus “will draw all people” to Himself through His death on

the cross.521

517 2 Kings 9:22 (KJV).

518 John 8:12.


3823.

520 Steve Jeffery, Michael Ovey, and Andrew Sach, Pierced for Our Transgressions: Rediscovering the

Glory of Penal Substitution (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2007), 52.

521 Michael Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham, eds., The Moody Bible Commentary: A One-Volume

Commentary on the Whole Bible by the Faculty of Moody Bible Institute (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014),

Kindle, 65933; John 12:32.

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Rather than having to rely on anthropocentrically executed sacrifices to provide for the

ability to draw near to God, Jesus’ death allows people to enter into “communion with God,”

making “the heart of Christian worship . . . to recall and celebrate the hope of glory” which is

“Christ in you.”522 This speaks of a new relational dimension to spirituality that is reinforced by

Jesus when He states that “an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will

worship the Father in spirit and truth.”523 Whereas the Samaritan woman of the previous verse

used the “neuter ‘what’ (ὃ)” to refer to God, Jesus made it clear that “it is not a ‘what,’ not even

simply ‘God,’ but specifically the Father who is to be worshipped.”524 As distinction is made

with regard to the Father, the persons and works of both the Son and the Holy Spirit are also

brought into focus. Thus, Jesus was guiding people into true spirituality and worship in explicitly

relational and Trinitarian terms.525

These changes in the orientation of worship also required a different means of spiritual

engagement. Rather than only a single person being able to approach God through the Temple

during the Day of Atonement, all people would be able to approach God directly through the

indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Even though Jesus’ sacrifice paid the debt due for sin, humanity

still needed to be purified and glorified. Titus 3:5-7 describes how this process will occur. Paul

states that believers are saved “through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy

Spirit . . . so that having been justified by his grace, we may become heirs with the hope of


4082,5235; Colossians 1:27. Rather than an anthropocentrically offered sacrifice, people can now draw near to God

through the once and final sacrifice of Christ on the cross.

523 John 4:21-24.

524 Edward W. Klink, John, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI:

Zondervan, 2016), 6784.


161

eternal life.”526 It is vital to understand that these verses draw a hard line for what will constitute

true spirituality and false spirituality. As Paul states in Romans, “those He predestined, He also

called; and those He called, He also justified; and those He justified, He also glorified;” God is

the one who completes spiritual work in human beings. Any spiritual practices that people

engage in may make use of the spiritual work that God does in believers, but in no way do they

help in the attainment of true spirituality. It is the Spirit of God who sanctifies and the human

being who chooses to act on the “life-changing power” that is given to him.527

One other discontinuity is the means by which people give glory to God through

authentic spirituality under the Sinaitic Covenant versus the New Covenant. Under the Sinaitic

Covenant, the people of Israel were not spiritually empowered to live God-honoring lives and

thus the nation as a whole was constantly under threat of punishment and exile. God’s glory was

on display through the nations through His treatment of Israel. When Israel was obedient and

fulfilled the sacrificial law to atone for its sins, it was blessed, and God’s righteousness was

made known to the nations. Similarly, when Israel was disobedient, God’s punishment of Israel

was the primary way through which His glory and righteousness were demonstrated. The Law

did not provide a way for people themselves to reflect the glory of God as it could not “justify”

or “confer the Spirit,” nor could people keep it perfectly.528 Under the New Covenant, believers

experience “participation in the glory of Christ . . . only through the blessing of the Holy

526 Titus 3:5-7.

527 Kenneth Keathley, “The Work of God: Salvation,” in A Theology for the Church, ed. Daniel Akin


528 Douglas Moo, “The Law of Christ as the Fulfillment of the Law of Moses: A Modified Lutheran View,”

in Five Views on Law and Gospel, Counterpoints: Bible and Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1999), 328.

162

Spirit.”529 By virtue of the “streams of living water” that will flow within a person as a result of

faith in Christ, God is able to be truly and properly glorified through humanity.530

However, it is vital to understand that union with Christ through the Holy Spirit does not

lead to the immediate reception of the power of the physical resurrection along with all of its

benefits. Instead, while on this Earth, humanity primarily glorifies God through two means. First,

God is glorified through the union with Christ in suffering. Jesus Himself articulated this reality

when He said, “if anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross

and follow Me.”531 Additionally, Paul argued that “the sufferings of Christ are ours in

abundance,” and that being “conformed to His death” is the only way to “know Him and the

power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings.”532 Peter also indicated that

giving glory to God through suffering proceeded the positive aspects of God’s glory when he

said “to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the

revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.”533

In terms of the His with believers, the Holy Spirit operates as a Counselor. Jesus stated in

John 14 that He would “ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you

forever . . . He is the Spirit of truth.”534 The Spirit of God works in line with what God has

already spoken as He “will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to

529 David Vandrunen, God’s Glory Alone: The Majestic Heart of Christian Faith and Life: What the

Reformers Taught . . . and Why It Still Matters (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2015), Kindle, 1703.

530 John 7:37-38.

531 Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23.

532 2 Corinthians 1:5; Philippians 3:10.

533 1 Peter 4:13.

534 John 14:16-17.

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you.”535 For example, Paul asserts that the Holy Spirit “testifies with our spirit that we are God’s

children.”536 However, it is vital to Christian communication with God that the burden of truth

lay not with a spiritual interaction, but with the written Word of God. When Christians receive

new teaching or ritual, they are to “examine the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so,”

not pray to the Spirit to receive new revelation.537

Second, God is glorified through obedience to Christ. When questioned about the greatest

commandments, Jesus reiterated the Shema, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and

with all your soul and with all your mind.”538 When talking with the disciples, Jesus further

stated, “If you love Me, you will keep My commands,” indicating that to love God one must

keep Jesus’ words close to one’s heart and mind, and then act on them. He then links this

obedience to the spiritual renewal that occurs through the “Counselor” who will be with

believers “forever . . . the Spirit of Truth.”539 In this way, even the obedience exhibited by

believers is directly caused by God, so He receives the glory. Thus, true worship and authentic

spirituality are not marked by the anthropocentric attainment of a heightened spiritual

consciousness and greater miraculous power; rather, authentic spirituality demonstrates a high

degree of connection to the suffering of Christ and obedience to His commands through the

empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

535 John 14:26.

536 Romans 8:15-16.

537 Acts 17:11-12.

538 Matthew 22:36-40.

539 John 14:15-17.

164

In terms of specific spiritual practices, the New Testament retains a surprising amount of

congruity with the Old Testament. For example, the idea that the Bible, as the ultimate source of

written divine revelation, must remain the foundation and “key to coherent, corporate worship”

and authentic spirituality is evident from both statements about what it meant to receive God’s

approval and anything that took devotion away from apostles’ ability to handle the Scriptures

with integrity was delegated to others.540 Paul argued that being able to “present” oneself as

“approved to God” required being able to “correctly” teach “the word of truth.”541 Additionally,

when the apostles were faced with increasing issues like widows “being overlooked in the daily

distribution,” they wisely designated deacons to “handle financial matters,” so they could

continue to dedicate their time to “prayer and to the preaching ministry” which was the heart of

the church.542 Spiritual practice did not begin with anthropocentric experience, but with the

Word of God. Had the apostles forsaken the preaching of the Word for service, they would have

walked away from true spiritual worship. As Jesus said, the means by which believers are

sanctified is truth, and “Your word is truth.”543

Additionally, New Testament believers were encouraged to praise God in similar ways as

a reaction to the revelation of Christ’s death on the cross and His resurrection. Paul urges the

church to speak “to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music

from your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name


5279.

541 2 Timothy 2:15.

542 Acts 6:2-4.

543 John 17:17.

165

of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.”544 As in the Old

Testament, believers in the New Testament were encouraged to continually give thanks to God

in response to who He is and what He has done.

Prayer is another spiritual practice that is emphasized heavily in Scripture, but it does

come with a set of boundaries and guidelines. For instance, though we are to pray when we are

experiencing times of “trouble,” we are also commanded to “pray for those who persecute

you.”545 This is an example of how prayer should always be oriented to God and His commands,

as exemplified by the most important commands to love God and love one’s neighbor.

Additionally, though believers are encouraged to “believe that you have received… all the things

you pray and ask for,” this comes with the caveat that one only prays for “anything according to

His will.”546 A great example of this type of prayer comes from Jesus in John 17:15 when he

stated that His prayer “is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from

the evil one.”547 There is no question that Jesus does not want His people to suffer, but Jesus also

recognizes that it is the will of the Father to display His glory through the suffering of believers,

thus Jesus does not pray that they would be removed from the world but only protected from

demonic forces.548

In conclusion, the New Testament shows remarkable consistency with the Old Testament

in its affirmation that proper spirituality and worship require Scripture at their center, involve


545 James 5:13; Matthew 5:44.

546 Mark L. Strauss, Mark, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI:

Zondervan, 2014), Kindle, 13268; Mark 11:24; 1 John 5:14.

547 John 17:15.

548 Klink, John, Kindle, 19709-19735; John 17:15.

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sacrifice from the worshipper, and result in praising God for who He is no matter the

circumstances. Additionally, many of the spiritual practices of the Old Testament are also

present in the New Testament including prayer, the reading of Scripture, fasting, and prophecy.

However, there are important discontinuities as well. The Old Testament sacrificial system has

been abrogated on account of its fulfillment in Christ and its inability to save. Thus, rather than

an external glory displayed through the judgment of Israel, the sacrifice of Christ allows

believers to internally glorify God through their union with Christ and living as living sacrifices.

Prohibited spirituality. The New Testament places prohibitions on a wide variety of

spiritual interactions, and among these, witchcraft or sorcery is often singled out.549 In the New

Testament, sorcery is called “pharmakia” or “pharmakeus” and covers drug manufacture, drug

use, poison use, and “by extension, a magician or sorcerer.”550 In the Ancient Near East, potions

were not just natural concoctions; they were “spell-giving potions.”551 New Testament scholar,

Craig Keener, argues that the reference to sorcery in Revelation 21:8 includes the practice of

“seductive signs [and] power” and “includes any deceptive tools of demons.”552

In solidarity with the Old Testament, the New Testament actively condemns magic and

sorcery in multiple instances. First, Jesus’ admonition, “when you pray, don’t babble like the

idolaters, since they imagine they’ll be heard for their many words,” is a direct refutation of the

549 Revelation 21:8; Galatians 5:19-21; Micah 5:11-12; 1 Samuel 15:23; Leviticus 19:26; Deuteronomy

18:10-13; 2 Chronicles 33:6; Nahum 3:4-5.

550 James Strong, “5332 - Pharmakeus,” Strong’s Complete Word Study Concordance (Chattanooga, TN:

AMG Publishers, 2004), 2172.

551 Ibid.

552 Craig S. Keener, Revelation, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000),

490.

167

“heathenistic modes of magical incantation.”553 There was an ancient belief that the more one

said something or the more vehemently one believed and commanded something the more likely

it was to occur.554 Acts 8:9-24 recounts an episode of spiritual confrontation between Philip the

evangelist and Simon the sorcerer. Simon’s own claim to be “somebody great” and the crowd’s

comment that he was “the Great Power of God” indicates that he was able to perform some

supernatural acts. However, when compared to the miracles that God performed through Philip,

even he was converted to belief in Jesus, though not without issues.555 In Acts 13:6-10, the use of

magic is directly linked to demonic influence, as the magician was called a “son of the Devil, full

of all deceit and all fraud, enemy of all righteousness!”556

Divination is also expressly condemned in the New Testament. Peter asserts that certain

people “have gone astray by abandoning the straight path and have followed the path of Balaam,

the son of Bosor.”557 This is a direct injunction against people who like Balaam were false

prophets and served false idols. Jude likewise criticizes people for abandoning “themselves to the

error of Balaam for profit.” Additionally, Acts 16 reports that some fortune-telling has its origins

in a form of demonic possession by “a spirit of prediction.”558 Most important is the fact that the

girl’s fortune-telling powers were not converted over to Christian use, instead the demon that

was in the girl was cast out, and she lost the ability to predict the future. This suggests that, in

general, being able to know the future was not a component of the early church’s spiritual gifts.

553 Unger, Biblical Demonology: A Study of Spiritual Forces at Work Today, Kindle, 1405; Matthew 6:7.

554 Ibid.

555 Craig Keener, Acts (Cambridge, UK: University Printing House, 2020), 264; Acts 8:9-24.

556 Acts 13:10.

557 2 Peter 2:15

558 Acts 16:16.

168

Additionally, the New Testament also issues injunctions against the related arts of astromancy

and necromancy, both of which involve gaining hidden information from either the stars or the

spirits of dead people.559

However, there is one verse in the New Testament which is often cited as allowing the

incorporation of virtually any worldly practice into the realm of authentic spirituality as long as it

is recontextualized in a Christian setting. Colossians 1:19-20 states: “For in him all the fullness

of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth

or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” Some interpret this verse as meaning that

spiritual practices on earth which have been co-opted or developed by non-Christian religions

can be reconciled to Christ and used in the Christian Church. In standard usage, the word

“ἀποκαταλλάξαι” or “to reconcile” was used in “the realm of diplomatic relationships.”560 Thus,

Paul’s use of this word is not in making all things acceptable to Christ; rather, he uses the word

to present “the work of Christ as necessary to overcome alienation.”561 Thus, the type of

reconciliation mentioned is not one of utility, instead, Paul’s reconciliation is one of “triumph”

and “pacification.”562 Rather than making evil things good, this verse is a statement that none of

the evil things of the world will be able to wage war against God any longer. In the New

Creation, the world will be a good and fit dwelling place for mankind.

559 Acts 7:41-43; 1 Timothy 4:1.

560 David W. Pao, Colossians & Philemon, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament

(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 103.

561 S. E. Porter, “Katallasso” in Ancient Greek Literature, With Reference to the Pauline Writings

(Zaragoza, ES: Cordoba, 1995), 184.

562 Peter O’Brien, “Col. 1:20 and the Reconciliation of All Things,” Reformed Theological Review 33

(1974): 47, 51.

169

Spirituality in the New Age Movement

Authorized interactions. New Age spiritual practices are focused on cultivating

mystical experiences and are attempts to have “direct communication with ultimate reality.”563

Unlike in the biblical worldview, the use of drugs like LSD is proscribed and used in order to

attain communion with the divine.564 Additionally, faith takes a back seat in New Age

spirituality. With the emphasis on psychedelic spiritual experiences, it is unnecessary to rely on

mere belief or faith.565 These experiences can be modified by New Age practitioners who utilize

guided imagery to facilitate deeper spiritual experiences.566 Other New Age adherents utilize

meditation to attain the spiritual state of “oneness with all things.”567

New Age practitioners also attempt to commune with the spiritual realm through

manipulation of the physical world. For example, the New Age understanding of yoga is that it is

a combination of breathing techniques, postures, and stretches that is believed to prepare oneself

to “rid [oneself] of ‘the human condition’ and achieve divinity.”568 Other accepted practices

include the use of animals like birds and dolphins to “achieve universal love and harmony

through telepathic contact.”569 The practitioners of these rituals affirm that the separation of the


564 Ibid, 415.

565 Ibid.

566 Douglas Groothuis, Moody Monthly, vol. 85 (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 1985), 20.

567 Walter Martin, The New Age Cult (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 1989), 61.


569 Ibid, 181.

170

practice from the spiritual component is not only impossible but recklessly dangerous as it could

lead to unintended spiritual trauma.570

A third realm of accepted practice concerns attempts to contact dead people, spirits, and

aliens. There are a variety of degrees of channeling and mediumship in the NAM. The most basic

experiences involve automatic writing, trances, and hearing voices.571 However, the strongest

forms of channeling involve physical changes in the voice, attitude, posture, and actions of the

person who is channeling.572 At their peak, professional channelers have started entire religious

movements around their spiritual utterances.573 During attempts to contact the spiritual realm,

many people report coming in contact with aliens from other worlds who deliver spiritual

messages.574 Overall, the NAM views such encounters positively and as sources of divine,

hidden truth.

A fourth source of spiritual interaction for the NAM is ritualistic magic. Though direct

wiccan and occultic language is only sometimes present, the following are three aspects of magic

that have greatly influenced many New Age practices. First, there is the law of the macrocosm

and microcosm. This law states that people can use things like “rituals, spells, and sex” to

“control cosmic powers.” The second law of magic is that “like produces like.”575 This principle


571 Bancarz and Peck, The Second Coming of the New Age: The Hidden Dangers of Alternative Spirituality

in Contemporary America and Its Churches, 18.


573 Ibid, 169.




171

attaches significance to items and rituals that are related to specific events.576 One example

comes from yoga, which states that positioning oneself into symbols that represent Hindu gods

gives one power over the gods.577 Finally, the law of “intensity of will” can be seen in the New

Age teaching entitled The Secret whereby one can intensely visualize what one desires, and the

universe will make it come to pass.578

Prohibited interactions. At this juncture, there are no known practices that the NAM

explicitly rejects. Though individual practitioners may favor one practice over others and may

have had various bad experiences with certain practices, there is no overarching rejection of any

one experience.

Authentic/Inauthentic Spirituality Criteria

Table 3.5. Authentic/Inauthentic Spirituality Criteria

Criterion

Number


Teaching

1 Purpose of Spirituality Spirituality is the

deepening of one’s

relationship with God

through worship or

the structured and

ordered expression of

To attain awareness

of one’s own divinity

and unite one with

the Cosmos


577 Newport, The New Age Movement and the Biblical Worldview: Conflict and Dialogue, 74-75.

578 Rhonda Byrne, The Secret (New York City, NY: Atria Books/Beyond Words, 2007).

172

the proper response

of the people of God

to the revelation of

God in Christ

2 Focus of Spirituality Adoration and praise

for the triune God of

Christianity

Celebration of one’s

own divinity and

power

3 Experience of Spirituality Transcendent

meeting with the

living God

Engagement with the

part of self that is

transcendent or

divine

4 Centrality of Scripture and

Doctrine

Practice reflects and

emphasizes God and

His work as revealed

in Scripture

Practice focuses on

the self, self-divinity,

and obtaining

personal desires

5 Exposure of False

Doctrine

Authentic spirituality

exposes false doctrine

Emphasizes the

acceptance of false

doctrine

6 Separation of Theology

and Practice

Scripture indicates

that pagan religious

practices are

inextricably linked to

idolatry and cannot

The New Age

Movement borrows

practices from a

variety of religions

and contextualizes

173

be separated from

their origins

them in a new

theological setting

7 Proper Sacrifice Christ’s Sacrifice is

sufficient for sins—

People are living

sacrifices

Material sacrifice

(time, money, skills,

work) in exchange

for spiritual growth

or ascension

8 Praising YHWH Required Not required

9 Proper Heart Doing the will of

God,

Having an upright

heart

Openness to all

beliefs and

worldviews

10 Connecting with God Direct encounter with

God (Prayer, Word of

God, Holy Spirit)

Indirect Encounter

(necromancy,

mediumship,

spiritism, channeling,

use of physical

medium)

11 Angelic Encounters Sent by God Contacted by man

12 Purpose of Angelic

Encounters

Deliver God’s

message, protection

Reveal new truth and

doctrine, assist in

ascension of

consciousness

174

13 Links to Idolatry Prohibited Accepted

14 Use of Magic Prohibited Accepted (magic,

occult, Gnosticism,

sorcery, witchcraft,

divination, fortune

telling)

15 Use of Music For thanksgiving and

praise, with reverence

to doctrine

For inducing a state

of spiritual openness

16 Prayer Focused on who God

is and in line with His

teachings, cannot be

repetitious

A means of

ascending to a higher

consciousness, can be

repetitious

17 Prophecy In line with prior

revelation, requires

P-A Commission, is

true, must glorify

God, build up the

church, and assist in

the Great

Commission, cannot

profit off of it

Can disagree with

prior revelation,

requires spiritual

empowerment, can

focus on personal

growth and

empowerment, can

profit off of it

175

Chapter 4: Analysis of Practices

Introduction

In this chapter, both the Enneagram and Yoga will be assessed for their use in the

Christian Church. Each subsection will open with a depiction of the central philosophical and

practical elements that are necessary for the practices to be what they are, regardless of which

religious worldview into which they are being incorporated. These sections will contain critiques

of places where the practices deviate from Scripture and orthodox doctrine. Second, there will be

a brief analysis of the leading popularizers of these practices in the Christian Church. Third, the

practices will be critiqued according to the criteria presented in Chapter 3. Finally, the

conclusions of the study will be presented, as well as a recommendation for or against Church

use.1

1 One argument for the use of yoga and Enneagram in church is that the practices can be separated from

their theological and philosophical roots and used by Christians in a non-religious or Christianized manner. The

criteria developed throughout the course of this dissertation are designed to determine whether or not practices can

be separated from their theological roots. It will be demonstrated in Chapter 4 that neither the Christian Enneagram

nor Christian Yoga have been able to separate out their theological roots. However, the there is another way to look

at this issue that while beyond the scope of this dissertation, merits brief comment and speculation. What follows are

some of my thoughts after having conducted this study concerning how an alternative approach to discovering

syncretism might be conducted.

In order to demonstrate that a practice cannot be separated from its underlining theology and thus used in a

Christian or non-religious way, any single one of the following must be proved. First, if the practice was designed to

accomplish something that goes against biblical morality, it cannot be incorporated into Christianity or used in a

non-religious way. Second, if the practice is centered on taking a stance on or defining a concept that is explicitly

reserved as being defined by special revelation, the practice cannot be redeemed as it asserts itself as a source of

theology rather than Scripture. Third, if the practice acts, necessarily, as a substitute for a biblically proscribed

practice, then it cannot be separated from its theological underpinnings as it is inextricably linked to a non-Christian

worldview through substitution. Fourth, if there is a moderate to high risk of engagement with the underlying

theology if one engages with the practice, then it should be rejected. This is evidence of a deficient theological

method that allows for syncretistic practices to influence one’s thinking on biblical concepts.

Additionally, though a full analysis is beyond the scope of this dissertation, it is worthwhile to speculate

about a holiday like Christmas, which has known syncretistic elements, would fair under the criteria set forth by this

dissertation and the four issues outlined above. First, it is important to recognize that the consumerist elements of

Christmas and the general disregard for the Incarnation of Christ by secular observers should not be part of the

assessment as they should clearly be rejected. What is subject to analysis is the validity of Christmas as a holiday

celebrating the Incarnation. This could be broken down as follows with each component being separately assessed

for syncretism and its viability in the church: 1. The use of a day previously associated with a pagan holiday, 2. The

176

Church Practice #1: Enneagram

Fundamentals of all Enneagram Programs

Rejection of Total Depravity, Original Sin, and the Fallenness of Mankind

In order to understand what the Enneagram accomplishes, it is vital to begin with its

understanding of the ontologies of humanity and sin. Sin will be discussed first because the

use of the indoor decorated tree, 3. The celebration of an event which though worthy of celebration is not explicitly

laid out in Scripture.

Given the results of this study which will be presented later, the following comparisons could be made.

First, the use of a day that was associated with a pagan holiday is wholly unlike the Enneagram and Yoga. The

Enneagram was designed to be a method for humans to reach God. Yoga was designed as a method to prepare the

body and the soul to be separated during transcendental meditation. The day that the pagans used to celebrate their

religion is simply a day, it was created to be a day in which things are done. The appropriate comparison would be

(human body:yoga::day:holiday). In this comparison, the day is like the body; both can be used properly or

improperly. There would most likely be nothing syncretistic about using the same day to celebrate the Incarnation as

the pagans used to celebrate their false religion.

The use of the indoor decorated tree is more problematic. At its core, it is a tree, and the decorations are

decorations. The tree exists as God’s creation and the decorations exist to look pretty. But the use of a decorated tree

in one’s house may constitute a misuse of God’s creation and should be examined. There many stories surrounding

the origin of the use of the Christmas tree (See Ace Collins book Stories of the Great Traditions of Christmas pages

70-75). Though the Scandinavian people utilized indoor evergreens to conjure strength during the winter, the first

known Christian interaction with the evergreen tree comes from a legendary account of St. Boniface, the missionary

who in the 7th century spread the gospel across central Europe. The story goes that in order to save a little boy who

was about to be sacrificed to Thor, Boniface struck a tree, felling it in a single blow. He then told all present that

“the evergreen was the Tree of Life,” “that the tree even winter could not kill stood for the eternal life offered to

them by Christ,” and “that the fir’s three points represented the Holy Trinity of God the Father, Son, and Holy

Ghost.” This then led to trees being hung upside-down in Christian houses. However, it was not until Martin Luther

that Christmas Trees in their more modern understanding would be popularized. On his way home during winter,

Luther saw starlight through the branches of a group of fir trees. He was so taken with what he saw that he brought a

tree into his home and placed candles throughout the tree to replicate the effect. He then stated that “the tree

represented the everlasting love of God,” “that the evergreen’s color did not fade, just as the Lord’s love would not

fade,” and that “the candlelight represented the hope that Christ brought to the world through his birth and

resurrection.” The most important point to glean from these stories is that far from being a pagan practice that the

church adopted, it seems as though the use of the Christmas tree and its decorations did not have its origin in pagan

ritual. Thus, as long as Christians do not somehow turn the tree into an idol, the use of the Christmas tree would

belong under the category of the proper use of Christian symbols and imagery and be valid for Christian use.

Finally, though the Bible does not include the Incarnation as a mandated holiday, Scripture does treat it as

one of the most important events in human history and encourages the praise of God for what He has done, so

celebrating the Incarnation is not going against any Biblical mandate and is reinforced to an extent by injunctions to

praise God. In conclusion, there may be some aspects of Christmas that need to be removed due to their inherent

syncretism; however, the holiday in and of itself, celebrated properly, is likely valid for Christian participation.

Regarding the four speculative criteria mentioned above: 1. the celebration of the Incarnation on a given

day of the year does not go against biblical morality, 2. the celebration of the Incarnation on a day does not redefine

the Incarnation, 3. the celebration of the Incarnation on a day does not act as a substitute for any biblically mandated

practice, and 4. the celebration of the Incarnation on a day does not come with a high risk of syncretizing with

unorthodox theology.

177

Enneagram’s view on humanity is derived from the observations its creators made about how

humanity engages with and relates to sin. Enneagram philosopher Christopher Heuertz opens his

discussion on sin by asserting that the Christian Enneagram “rescue[s] the original sense of the

word sin . . . after the contamination of the notion of wrongness as a dysfunction with that of

wrongness as evil.”2 In the Enneagram’s worldview, sin does not have to be “a moral category.”3

In fact, sin is not attributed to individual acts or general dispositions; instead, sin is ignorance of

one’s true self and “a disorder of awareness and interference with action.”4 The Enneagram

focuses on sins as obsessive addictions to one’s gifts. For instance, Rohr states that “people are

destroyed by their gifts and talents . . . because we identify too closely with what we can do

well,” rather than “being destroyed by our sins [(moral wrongdoing)].”5 People sin not because

of giving into a wrong feeling or desire, but because they give into good desires too often.6 Thus,

Rohr states that “our gift and our sin are two sides of the same coin,” and that sanctification is

the process by which “our gift is our sin sublimated and transformed by grace.”7 Given these

stances, the Enneagram stands in opposition to the biblical doctrines of (1) sin as disobedience

toward God and His commands, (2) original sin as a fallen human nature, and (3) the rejection of

holiness in moral terms for the belief in the true self as a form of higher consciousness.

2 Heuertz, The Sacred Enneagram: Finding Your Unique Path to Spiritual Growth, Kindle, 1292.

3 Richard Rohr and Andreas Ebert, The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective, trans. Peter Heinegg (New

York City, NY: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 2016), Kindle, 1026.

4 Claudio Naranjo, The Enneagram of Society: Healing the Soul to Heal the World (Navada City, CA:

Gateway Books and Tapes, 2004), 22.

5 Rohr and Ebert, The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective, Kindle, 833.



178

With sin relativized to one’s personal intention, rather than to specific sinful actions,

Enneagram philosophers and theologians redefine humanity’s relationship with sin and its effects

on the will. First, Enneagram teachers generally reject the traditional doctrine of original sin as a

fallen human nature. Instead, original sin is redefined as being how “we have abandoned our

soul, our ‘soul child,’ for a false identity that is defended and deceitful, and so we are trapped.”8

Original sin is not the first sin of the human race by which the entire race entered into a fallen

state; rather, each person has their own original sin in that they reject the proper functioning of

their gifts and persons because they are incapable of perfection, even though “they know it

already ought to be that way.”9 Rather than rebellion against God, sin is more a rebellion against

the True Self, or perfection, of mankind. Thus, under the Enneagram, you are not seen as

inherently sinful nor irreparably fallen; instead, you are a “One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six,

Seven, Eight, [or] Nine,” and defined by how you chose to cope with the world as a child.10 The

Enneagram entrenches sin into coping mechanisms to such an extent that Rohr believes that “no

one willingly does evil.”11 Thus, on virtually all aspects of the doctrine of sin, the Enneagram

presents a view contrary to the Bible.

This view on sin complements the Enneagram’s views on anthropology as dividing the

human into the True Self and the False Self. Heuertz argues that sin, or “the ego’s tethering to its

tragic flaw,” is the real cause of the “heart’s disconnect from its True Self” and is out of our



10 Rohr and Ebert, The Enneagram, Kindle, 808, 868.


179

control in many ways.12 The specific number that each person chooses to embody is manifested

by “false energy.”13 This “Enneagram energy . . . determines us at least every ten minutes,” as it

guides people to act in specific ways in response to the situations that they find themselves in.14

These “fixations” or “sins” of one’s Enneagram number “prevent the energy of life, god’s love,

from flowing freely.”15 Given that humanity is innately good, the Enneagram is concerned with

“illuminat[ing] what’s good and true and beautiful about each of us.”16 In order to overcome the

addictions and fixations that people have they must work on “developing the ‘true’ self” which

“requires us to know, accept, and integrate all parts of our selves [sic], including our Shadow

elements.”17 In summation, the Enneagram does not teach people that they must die in order to

live in Christ; instead, it shows them that “we aren’t fundamentally flawed, bad people hoping to

be good, but good people hoping to be better.”18 The Enneagram teaches that “God loves us

unconditionally—along with our dark sides” and does not require that we change who we are.19

The spiritual path promoted by the Enneagram is the acceptance of the revelation of “your

shadow side” followed with “spiritual counsel on how to open it to the transformative light of






17 Beatrice Chestnut, The Complete Enneagram: 27 Paths to Greater Self-Knowledge (Berkeley, CA: She

Writes Press, 2013), Kindle, 228.

18 Christopher Heuertz, The Enneagram of Belonging: A Compassionate Journey of Self-Acceptance

(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2020), Kindle, 354.


180

grace.”20 The Enneagram argues that concerning humanity, “‘Everything belongs’—the good,

the bad, and the ugly.”21

In conclusion, the Enneagram’s view on sin divorces it from morality and rebellion

against God. This is done so that, contrary to Scripture, humanity can be viewed as inherently

good and not fallen. Thus, one does not need an atoning sacrifice to be saved from one’s sins. In

this way, the Enneagram positions itself as the savior of humanity because it is the only thing

that can help you find your True Self.

Understanding of the True Self is New Consciousness Revelation

All forms of the Enneagram rely on the “New Consciousness” model of revelation as the

fundamental mode of spiritual growth. First, Enneagram adherents hold that the Bible is

insufficient for full and complete knowledge about God, oneself, salvation, and sanctification.

Instead, they believe that the Enneagram is “a sacred map for our souls . . . [and] when

understood, leads us to our true identity and to God.”22 Enneagram teachers warn students that

the “timeless truths” of the Enneagram may be hard to comprehend; however, if they can be

mastered, one can learn “what it means to be human” and how to “transform ourselves to

manifest our highest possibilities.”23 Thus, the Enneagram’s form of knowledge can be

considered to be “gnostic” or a form of hidden knowledge that is only accessible to a privileged

few. Once this knowledge is understood on an intellectual level, individual Enneagram

20 Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile, The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery

(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2016), 378.



23 Chestnut, The Complete Enneagram: 27 Paths to Greater Self-Knowledge, Kindle, 60.

181

practitioners are tasked with committing to the practices of “self-observation, self-study, and

self-development,” through which they slowly come to a greater degree of “freedom,

connectedness, balance, wholeness, and creativity” as they are living through their “higher”

Selves.24 The following is a full description of the higher or True Self and its attributes:

This higher Self represents a more conscious, integrated state of being that is available to

all of us when we do the work of dis-identifying with the Personality and facing our fear

and our pain. We can experience this higher state of being when we are able to dis-

identify with the Personality and merge with something larger than ourselves through

meditative practice and conscious self-work. As suggested by the main themes of the

“high side” of the Nine point, this opens us up to an experience of a greater sense of

union with our true Self, with others, and the natural world.25

As psychotherapist Beatrice Chestnut asserts, the higher or True Self is “more

conscious,” thus it has a greater degree of knowledge and awareness about itself and its power.

This True Self is a “higher state of being” meaning that the True Self of the Enneagram is

initially hidden at the substance level of humanity but is revealed through self-reflection and

meditation. The mention of merging with something larger than ourselves also plays along with

the idea that one’s True Self is more than just an individual, it is a whole new class of being.

Rohr Christianizes this ascension using the term “Christ Consciousness” and argues that when

people attain this state they realize that God is literally ontologically and incarnationally within

all of creation; thus, all of creation is connected.26 Through the belief that divinity resides within

individual people and that knowledge of a higher consciousness is the path to spiritual maturity,


25 Ibid.


Believe, Kindle, 630. Rohr states that his view is not classical theism, but panentheism.

182

the Enneagram relies on “New Consciousness” or “New Awareness” forms of revelation over

and against Scripture.

In conclusion, the Enneagram’s views on anthropology are panentheistic, whereby part of

the divine nature resides in the human nature and is equivalent to the True Self. Rather than

humanity needing to be reconciled to God, the Enneagram promotes that people need to become

aware of the divinity within oneself. This is in fundamental disagreement with the standard

doctrine of the distinction between Creator and Creation. The assertion that God is incarnate in

the world rather than God interacting with the world through speech and power denies the

Christian doctrine of transcendence and immanence. Finally, as asserted throughout this section,

the Enneagram rejects propositional revelation in favor of the esoteric higher consciousness form

of revelation.

Internalization of Holy Virtue to Attain Spiritual Growth

The Enneagram completely reinvents the process of sanctification. Rather than

sanctification being carried out as a work of the Holy Spirit, Heuertz states that “it’s our Holy

Ideas and our Virtues that are the most powerful means we have to bring us back to our true

Essence.” 27 The Enneagram provides people with the understanding necessary to utilize a

“deeper self-awareness as a doorway to spiritual growth.”28 Fully anticipating that his discourse

on the Enneagram seems to pull the focus of the believer away from God and onto the self,

Heuertz reinforces the notion that the Enneagram is not a casual personality tool; instead, it is “a

27 Heuertz, The Enneagram of Belonging: A Compassionate Journey of Self-Acceptance, Kindle, 2540.


183

map for self-liberation” that leads people to “deeper freedom and inner peace.”29 In order to

experience the inner peace that the Enneagram offers, people are encouraged to “limit our sin in

order to recognize how gifted we are” and “to limit our gift; otherwise our sin becomes a trap

while we call it a ‘virtue.’”30 For example, Rohr pairs sins and virtues together as dichotomies

that in some way cancel each other, as seen in his following statement: “humility helps against

pride, true love of God helps against envy, the remedy for anger is patience, [and] laziness is

overcome through fortitude.”31

Heuertz depicts the Enneagram’s Holy Ideas and Holy Virtues as being “the purest part

of our truest self” and “the fragrance of our souls bearing witness to our goodness in the

world.”32 He distinguishes between these two by seating the Holy Idea in the mind and the Holy

Virtue in the heart. The Holy Idea is fully expressed as “the mental clarity of the True Self that

emerges when the mind is at rest.”33 Utilizing the Holy Idea, the Enneagram promotes spiritual

union or integration as “the lucidity of a mind integrated with one’s heart and body, evidenced in

the consolidation of mindfulness and self-realization.”34 In distinction from the Holy Idea, the

Holy Virtue is “the emotional objectivity of the True Self that comes forward in a heart at

peace.”35 Heuertz argues that these Virtues were “forgotten as a result of our Kidlife Crisis.”36

29 Heuertz, The Sacred Enneagram, Kindle, 572.





34 Ibid.

35 Ibid.


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The only way to embody and internalize your Holy Virtue is to remember the true parts of

oneself, learning to love oneself, and “breathing into [one’s] own innocence.”37 Cron and Stabile

reinforce this moralistic works-based mentality of the Enneagram, as they state that “once you

know your type you owe it to yourself and the people you live with . . . to become a kinder, more

compassionate presence in the world.”38 However, they immediately attempt to backpedal or

engage in doublespeak, asserting one cannot become a better person “apart from the

transformative power of God’s grace.”39 They follow this up saying that the only way to change

is to “simply give God consent to do for you what you’ve never been able to do for yourself . . .

bring meaningful and lasting change to your life.”40 However, contrary to their assertions, each

chapter that covers an Enneagram type contains a section called “Ten Paths to Transformation”

that focuses on things one must do to transform, like: “Risk sharing your heart at deeper levels

with someone in your life,” ask yourself “What if I’m wrong? . . . a hundred times a day,” “don’t

always play the part of the rebel,” and “don’t judge yourself or others as weak for sharing tender

feelings.”41 The use of doublespeak concerning grace and works is common in Christian

Enneagram books for the simple fact that the Enneagram’s mode of operation is a works-based

model at heart.

In conclusion, the Enneagram prescribes Holy Ideas and Holy Virtues as the means by

which one becomes transformed, not as a result of being transformed. Biblical sanctification is


38 Cron and Stabile, The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery, Kindle, 444.


40 Ibid.

41 Ibid, Kindle, 829-840.

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executed through transformation by the Holy Spirit first and obedience to the commands second.

The Enneagram teaches that obedience is what gets one access to the true self, or transformation.

Thus, despite continual doublespeak, the Enneagram promotes a works-based model of spiritual

growth.

Salvation is Earned through Recovering the True Self

Though Christian Enneagram theologians argue that the Enneagram does not subvert

Christian atonement and salvation by grace through faith, they continually engage in

doublespeak that affirms the opposite. The Enneagram is, at its core, a method of salvation

whereby one can learn the truth about their personality, recover their True Self, and restore their

relationship with God. Those who teach the Enneagram argue that the true knowledge of

spiritual development has been known by “the masters and soul guides of all spiritual traditions

of the West and East” as they have affirmed that “true self-knowledge is the presupposition of

the ‘inner journey.’”42 The disciplines of self-work include “knowledge, asceticism, good works,

or meditation” and provide a means of “unmasking this illusionary self.”43 Inner-work or soul-

work concerns itself with the identification of “roles, habits, and character features” that are the

“chief obstacle in our search for our (true) ‘self.’”44 These goals are achieved through

anthropocentric means through the acquisition and application of self-knowledge.45



44 Ibid.

45 The fundamental difference between the Enneagram’s form of spiritual growth and spiritual growth as

outlined in Scripture is its goal. The Bible asserts that people must “deny [themselves] and take up [their] cross

daily” (Luke 9:23) and “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual

worship” (Romans 12:1). The core idea is that spiritual growth happens as “by the Spirit you put to death the deeds

of the body” (Romans 8:13). Thus, spiritual growth is concerned with purging immorality and sin and walking in the

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In order to maintain that the Christian version of the Enneagram is still salvation by grace

through faith, Enneagram instructors have had to redefine most of the traditional Christian

terminology. For example, Rohr redefines redemption in this way: “In Christianity, redemption

from the false self is understood as a gift of God’s grace.”46 No longer does redemption deal with

reclaiming humanity from a fallen nature and an eternal damnation; instead, the Enneagram

reinvents redemption in terms of personality foibles. It is God’s grace in that it only happens if

God allows it to happen, but Rohr reminds his students that “we should pray as if it all depended

on God and act as though everything depended upon ourselves.”47 Thus, he encourages active

cognitive dissonance with regard to faith and works, whereby individuals are encouraged to

speak in terms of grace and faith but live under a works-based burden.

Rohr also redefines faith saying that it “is actually a way to keep us learning, growing,

and being transformed into God—not just a security blanket of doctrinal statements and moral

principles.”48 Faith is transformed from a good and proper trust in the good news of Christ into a

force that literally transforms one into God. This is congruent with Rohr’s philosophy of the

spirit with the fruits of the spirit. The Enneagram asserts the opposite. It argues that humanity is fundamentally good

and simply needs to focus on being better by learning more about oneself. Enneagram teachers explicitly deny that

sin is evil that needs to be purged and affirm that spiritual growth is concerned with finding the True Self. In

practical terms, Scripture states that God has “given us everything required for life and godliness through the

knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3). In contrast, Enneagram teachers

assert that inner work or self-reflection is the source of all that Christians need to live a sanctified life. This is due to

their belief in the Universal or Cosmic Christ.

46 Rohr and Ebert, The Enneagram, Kindle, 165.

47 Ibid.

48 Ibid, Kindle, 292. Rohr exhibits heterodoxy concerning both fides quae and fides qua. In terms of fides

quae, Rohr advocates that faith is more than simply confidence in Jesus Christ, rather it is a means of sanctification

and transformation. In terms of fides qua, Rohr splits the subject of faith into two. Rather than articulating that we

are to have faith in God or faith in the Son of God, Rohr argues on page 18 of The Universal Christ that “faith is

trusting that Jesus together with Christ gave us one human but fully accurate window into the Eternal Now that we

call God.” Thus, he divides the Son of God in two; on one side is the human being Jesus and on the other side is the

eternal consciousness called Christ.

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Cosmic Christ or Christ Consciousness, which he views humanity as attaining if it follows the

path of the Enneagram. One corollary of this doctrine is that the Enneagram teaches that holiness

is not a matter of moral rectitude nor right belief. To the contrary, holiness is adherence to the

true self and full incorporation of aspects of oneself be they good, bad, or otherwise. With the

revised definitions of sin, faith, and grace, Rohr proceeds to define conversion as a “specific

invitation or call [to adopt] ‘holy ideas’ or ‘ideas of the higher spiritual center.’”49 Thus,

conversion is not unto Jesus as Lord and Savior, rather, it is unto the adoption of the particular

virtue or “holy idea” that pertains to one’s Enneagram number.

Set in the theology of the Enneagram, salvation takes on a wholly new meaning.

Christopher Heuertz summarizes the purpose of the Enneagram, saying:

The contemporary Enneagram of Personality*--illustrates the nine ways we get lost, but

also the nine ways we can come home to our True Self. Put another way, it exposes nine

ways we lie to ourselves about who we think we are, nine ways we can come clean about

those illusions, and nine ways we can find our way back to God.50

By Heuertz’s understanding, Sin no longer separates people from God. According to the

Enneagram, it is our ignorance about our True Self and lies about who we really are that separate

us from God. This “True Self” is not equivalent to any theology of the image of God; rather it is

defined as “the soul” and simultaneously as “God,” as Rohr articulates that “The deepest me is

God!”51

Additionally, salvation is no longer about Jesus’ death on a cross for our sins. The

Enneagram has replaced that with the new nine ways we can escape our illusionary False Self,



51 Richard Rohr, Immortal Diamond: The Search for Our True Self (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass,

2013), Kindle, 443.

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regain the True Self, and “find our way back to God.”52 The Enneagram, not the Bible, nor Jesus,

“reveals our path for recovering our true identity and helps us navigate the journey home to

God.”53 The goal of the Enneagram is not knowledge of God, nor is it humility—though that is

often touted as a central aspect—nor is it faith in God; “The purpose of the Enneagram is to

develop self-knowledge and learn how to recognize and disidentify with the parts of our

personalities that limit us so we can be reunited with our truest and best selves.”54 This salvation

can be attained precisely because the Enneagram affirms the essential goodness of humanity and

reframes the problem of sin in terms of personality defects. These defects, minor in the grand

scheme of anthropology, can be removed through self-contemplation using the Enneagram as a

guide or map to our soul. Thus, salvation is not a monumental reconstitution of humanity, but is

more akin to a cleaning of a well-built, but dusty house.

In order to affect salvation, the Enneagram also has to take over some of the work of God

Himself. For instance, Rohr affirms that “the Enneagram, like the Spirit of truth itself, will

always set you free, but first it will make you miserable!”55 Instead of God’s Word being a “lamp

unto my feet,” the Enneagram is the light by which “we might see, might stop trivializing the

true nature of the darkness that we are, and, as T. S. Eliot said, ‘know the place for the first time,’

which is ironically our truest and deepest Self, the Self that always was but never is.”56

Additionally, the Enneagram does not have the capacity to actually define people. Each

52 Heuertz, The Sacred Enneagram: Finding Your Unique Path to Spiritual Growth.





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individual is “the only one who can identify [his or herself] with a certain type or life program of

the Enneagram.”57 When someone engages with the Enneagram, he or she is ultimately

responsible for his or her success or failure. In conclusion, the Enneagram replaces Jesus as the

means by which people reestablish relationship with God. Additionally, rather than the Holy

Spirit, the Enneagram is now the primary means through which sanctification occurs.

Relational Healing Requires Personality Knowledge

One of the most sought-after applications of the Enneagram is its usefulness in mending,

repairing, and strengthening relationships.58 Rohr grounds this in the primary relationship we

have with God, saying, “the Enneagram can help us to find a deeper and more authentic

relationship with God—even though it was not discovered by Christians.”59 Implicit in this

assertion is the idea that something extrabiblical is better than anything in the Bible at helping

you connect with God. Indeed, it is neither the Word nor the Spirit of God that helps one become

more loving; rather, “the Enneagram will help us to become more loving.”60 It accomplishes this

by first revealing “the personality as a ‘false self’ that develops to allow your (vulnerable and


58 David Daniels and Suzanne Dion, The Enneagram, Relationships, and Intimacy: Understanding One

Another Leads to Loving Better and Living More Fully (Independently Published, 2018); Beth McCord and Jeff

McCord, Becoming Us: Using the Enneagram to Create a Thriving Gospel-Centered Marriage (New York City,

NY: Morgan James Publishing, 2020); Suzanne Stabile, The Path Between Us: An Enneagram Journey to Healthy

Relationships (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2018).



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young) ‘true self’ to adapt, fit in, and survive among other humans.”61 The Enneagram then

presents a “gift or fruit of the spirit… as the opposite side of the root sin.”62

Not only does the Enneagram show individuals how they can be better in relationships, it

also helps “people to understand better the specific dynamics at work in a given relationship.”63

For instance, Cron and Stabile state that the Enneagram provides people with “great insight”

concerning the realms of relationships and friendships and tells us “what we most need and fear

from those interactions.”64 Practical advice comes in terms of tips and things one can do to

promote relational health, like “affirming your spouse in a multitude of ways” as it is “essential”

that “in order for a relationship to grow, you have to have five positives to one negative.”65

Awareness is also a key factor, for example, if one was married to an Enneagram “Five,” one

would need to understand that his or her spouse has “a limited amount of inner resources and

relational energy and when that energy is depleted… [his or her] tank is empty,” and he or she

has “nothing left to give.”66

Though authors like the McCords interweave the Gospel and Christian language

throughout their books, it is incoherent to take the Enneagram’s perspective and simultaneously

hold to a grace-based method of sanctification in which the Bible is sufficient. The Enneagram

61 Chestnut, The Complete Enneagram: 27 Paths to Greater Self-Knowledge, Kindle, 273; Rohr and Ebert,

The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective, Kindle, 1178.




65 McCord and McCord, Becoming Us: Using the Enneagram to Create a Thriving Gospel-Centered

Marriage, Kindle, 2017.


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presents itself as a tool by which people can understand each other and thus have the requisite

knowledge to avoid conflict and promote positivity. Most authors affirm that this is only possible

by relying on the Holy Spirit and the Gospel, but few define what that aspect looks like apart

from simply believing that God is changing oneself and then attempting to act differently.

Unfortunately, all Christian versions of the Enneagram deny God’s work in salvation by making

use of extensive doublespeak which is difficult to detect and tease apart. If even the few

principles outlined above are true, and there are certain requirements for good relationships, then

the Enneagram has condemned the majority of humanity into poor relationships that will

inevitably break down. In contrast, the Bible affirms that all relationships are breaking down

ultimately due to sin and that the only way to have thriving relationships is by entering into

union with Christ through the forgiveness of sins which He procured through the atonement on

the cross.

Theological Analysis of the 9 Enneagram Types

Overview of the Definition of a Type and Spiritual Growth According to the Enneagram

The Enneagram type is both a depiction of individual personalities, as well as the primary

motivating factors that influence a given personality type. Typical depictions of Enneagram

types emphasize “why each Type thinks, feels, and acts in specific ways.”67 The Enneagram

breaks down the “mystical image of the human being” into two stages: the first is the

construction of the “‘empirical ego,’ which can also be understood as the sum of our attitudes

and behavioral mechanisms.”68 In this stage, Cron and Stabile argue that “our personalities—

67 McCord and McCord, Becoming Us: Using the Enneagram to Create a Thriving Gospel-Centered

Marriage, Kindle, 692.


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which we and others experience as the ways we predictably think, feel, act, react, process

information and see the world—limit or imprison us.”69 The second stage facilitated by the

Enneagram is one of transformation and finding a way “to Christian freedom.”70 Rohr describes

this process of “enlightenment” or “conversion” as “seeing the truth,” not as “membership in the

right group or reciting the correct formulas or even practicing the right morality.”71

Part of seeing the truth involves coming to terms with who one is and accepting the good

and bad parts about one’s self in order to find balance and integration. Sins are not viewed as evil

as they are merely addictions to good things and even “God makes use of our sins.”72 Heuertz

pontificates the average Enneagram adherent will “realize how even seemingly unattractive parts

of yourself make you not only who you are, but are crucial to the unique beauty that is you.”73

The path to the “inner experience of dignity and power” through the Enneagram involves the

acquisition of “self-knowledge” which is gained through “inner work.”74 Prior to engagement

with the Enneagram the “immature person . . . is trapped in himself or herself.”75 The process of

spiritual growth through the Enneagram involves “exposing the masks or illusions of personality

and getting to the core of identity.”76 As one walks the path of transformation, they will begin to

69 Cron and Stabile, The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discover, Kindle, 256.





74 Rohr and Ebert, The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective, Kindle, 123, 963.



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integrate patterns of opposing and related Enneagram types.77 Thus, as people mature they

become less like their own number and more like Jesus who “brought forth all nine ‘fruits’ of the

Enneagram” and “is the fulfillment of all nine types.”78 Ultimately, if one were able to fully

integrate all nine numbers of the Enneagram into one’s life, one could “look on reality from all

nine sides. Then [one] would contemplate the world, as it were, with the eyes of God.”79

In conclusion, Enneagram types cut against the biblical understanding of anthropology.

First, it depicts humanity as incomplete and needing ascension to a higher consciousness, which

is against the doctrine that man was created complete. Second, rather than the holy/fallen

dichotomy presented in Scripture, the Enneagram asserts the dichotomy of ego/enlightenment.

Finally, the Enneagram blurs the line between Creator and Creation through linking success in

the Enneagram to having God’s own understanding of reality.

Not Created by God—Genetic/Environmental/Parental Origins of Personality

Enneagram instructors are divided on exactly where and how people receive or choose

their Enneagram personality number. However, there is one thing that many Enneagram

philosophers agree on: the role of the “Childhood Wound.” The Enneagram reveals the “nine

ways our human nature manages our ego’s collection of coping addictions” that result in each

person’s Childhood Wound.80 Thus, sin is not the result of a direct rebellion against God;

instead, sin is a result of “the survival strategy that we adopted as children.”81 Rohr argues that






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one’s environment triggers children into adopting “emergency solutions . . . as a way of coming

to terms” with the circumstances of one’s childhood situation.82 Similarly, Heuertz believes that

“the mental and emotional scar tissues of these wounds” cause people to retreat into one of the

nine personality types, which results in the “development (or malformation) of our

personalities.”83

The Enneagram maintains this extremely negative view of childhood and its dominance

over the human personality as it asserts that one’s Enneagram number is primarily determined by

the “first experiences of being human, coupled with adversity, suffering, or trauma, [to] form

mental and emotional rails.”84 Heuertz links individual sin patterns to parental impartation when

he asserts that the “Childhood Wound” is “the way we absorb the burden of our caregiver(s)

transferring their shadow.”85 He muddies the idea that individuals bear the ultimate responsibility

of their sins, negative personality traits, and negative behaviors. To further see how the

Enneagram’s theology of the Childhood Wound turns people into victims of their past and

promotes the shirking of accountability, it is necessary to have a clear understanding of the origin

of the Childhood Wound. The following is Heuertz’ understanding of the child’s reception of the

parent’s “shadow:”

As children, we internalized the pain of imperfect upbringings because we didn’t have the

psychological capacity to process the impression of our caregiver’s shadow which

develops when we let our pain go unprocessed and unresolved. Our shadow—and we all

have one—is the part of our ego we are unable to consciously recognize. Though it is





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neither good nor bad, it is where we unconsciously “park” some of the worst of

ourselves.86

It is vital to note that it is the child’s lack of “psychological capacity” that drives the integration

of the shadow, something that one does not have control over. He further removes one from his

or her own responsibility by affirming that we are not able to recognize this aspect of our ego

and that we “park” our bad behaviors there. Thus, the emphasis on the childhood wound and its

role in the development of one’s Enneagram number ultimately provides one with the idea that at

root they are not fully responsible and in control of their own actions. It also promotes the idea

that a person is not even able to be fully aware of all their sinful actions. In this way, the

Enneagram positions itself as a required tool for sanctification.

Heuertz takes a contrary approach when compared with most Enneagram teachers on the

topic of how one embodies his or her number. He states that “we are born into our type and

there’s nothing our environment can do to change that.”87 Cron and Stabile affirm the traditional

thinking stating that “we all adopt one (and only one) of these types in childhood”88 Ultimately,

it is probably best to articulate the reception of one’s number by saying that the “Enneagram type

is one-third nature, one-third nurture, and one-third the decision we make as children to fill a role

needed to survive or thrive in our families and environments.”89 In conclusion, the Enneagram’s

understanding of how people come to embody their numbers limits their understanding of

personal responsibility, relativizes sin into one’s inability to cope with their parents’ issues, and

86 Heuertz, The Sacred Enneagram, 908.


88 Cron and Stabile, The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discover, Kindle, 285.


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as an unavoidable, inaccessible problem that can only be addressed through the self-knowledge

of the Enneagram.

Enneagram as Numerology

The connections of the Enneagram with numerology are extensive in both the

philosophical and practical arenas. Richard Rohr sees the Enneagram as being traceable to a line

of thinking derived from “Pythagorean thought” and “the works of Origen,” which was

popularized by the desert father and monk Evagrius.90 Evagrius “championed the allegorical

interpretation of the Bible” and believed that there was a “mysterious, symbolical sense” to

Scriptural interpretation, in which Rohr acknowledges numerology having “played a key role.”91

For Rohr and the Enneagram, the presence of numerology is not disturbing, as he asserts that “in

the earliest days of Christianity the interest in numerological symbolism was omnipresent and

was rooted in pre-Christian thought.”92 Secular Enneagram specialist Beatrice Chestnut sees the

numerological, “ancient wisdom behind the Enneagram” as representing the metaphysics and

psychology of Aldous Huxley who “finds something in the soul similar to, even identical with,

divine Reality and points the way to manifesting our potential.”93 Incidentally, Rohr has no

disagreement with the numerological understanding of the soul as divine due to his self-ascribed

panentheistic view of creation whereby God is ontologically incarnate in the entire universe.


91 Ibid.

92 Ibid, Kindle, 556. There is a substantial difference between numerological symbolism and numerology.

Numerological symbolism is the use of numbers as symbols to represent specific concepts like perfection or

completeness. Numerology is the attempt to use numbers to divine hidden knowledge. The Enneagram is not

symbolism it is numerology as will be demonstrated throughout this section.

93 Chestnut, The Complete Enneagram: 27 Paths to Greater Self-Knowledge, Kindle, 654; Aldous Huxley,

The Perennial Philosophy (New York City, NY: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1944), vii.

197

On a philosophical level, the Enneagram and numerology share the same purpose: to

discover the “self” and thereby “know the universe and God.”94 Numerology, in alignment with

the Enneagram, teaches that “the average person is often two people.”95 The external self, which

is equivalent to the Enneagram’s false self, is composed of the behaviors, attitudes, and thought

patterns that are “freely expressed.”96 Also, similar to the Enneagram, this false self was

“cultivated to defend our sensitivities,” and “build up a psychological wall.”97 To become aware

of the inner or high self, equivalent to the Enneagram’s true self, is “our highest form of

expression, the God within.”98 Upon integration with the high self, individuals are capable of

expressing “true love,” “the greatest depth of personal freedom,” and a “depth of wisdom that is

almost legendary in human expression.”99 In conclusion, there is virtually no difference between

numerology and the Enneagram’s understanding of anthropology.

Similar to numerology, the Enneagram makes extensive use of numbers, geometric

diagrams, and the ways in which the numbers and diagrams connect. The Enneagram symbol is

formed using a circle, an equilateral triangle, and an “irregular hexagram symbol.”100 Each of

these three parts represents what the Enneagram describes as eternal laws of the universe. First,

the circle represents “the Law of One,” which “denotes eternity, unity, wholeness, and the

94 David Phillips, The Complete Book of Numerology: Discovering the Inner Self (Carlsbad, CA: Hay

House, 1992), Kindle, 70.


96 Ibid.

97 Ibid.


99 David Phillips, The Complete Book of Numerology.


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inclusivity of all things.”101 Second, the Enneagram’s equilateral triangle represents “the Law of

Three,” which references “the three forces that guide everything in motion: active, passive,

neutral.”102 Finally, the irregular hexagram teaches “the Law of Seven,” which “is thought to

explain things like light . . . sound . . . sequence . . . and energy (the seven chakras of the body’s

energy centers that yoga students learn).”103 One of the original Enneagram/Enneagon

philosophers, G. I. Gurdjieff, argues that “everything can be included and read in the

Enneagram” and one can study it alone and “in it, read the eternal laws of the universe.”104

Additionally, each of the nine points of the Enneagram represents one of the nine

standard personality types.105 These types are defined “on the basis of nine ‘traps,’ ‘passions,’ or

‘deadly sins.’”106 One’s Enneagram number does not reveal positive things about one’s self;

rather, it reveals “our compulsive identification” with a trap or passion that “emerges as a

reaction against our original ‘soul space.’” 107 Each of these nine points occupies a node on the

Enneagram symbol, and it is the relationship of these numbers to each other in the context of the

symbol that provides one with wisdom. The first way the numbers relate to each other is through

the concept of wings. Each number sits next to two other numbers which act as “wings” for the


102 Ibid.

103 Ibid, Kindle, 754. It is worthwhile to note that in explaining the different aspects of the Enneagram laws,

Heuertz treats them as eternal principles that manifest in each religion. He speaks of each religion as if they are

roughly equivalent.

104 P. D. Ouspensky, In Search of the Miraculous: Fragments of an Unknown Teaching (Reading

Essentials, 2020), Kindle, 6854.

105 Alice Fryling, Mirror for the Soul: A Christian Guide to the Enneagram (Downers Grove, IL: IVP

Books, 2017), Kindle, 535.



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central number.108 These wings are said to “influence” one’s life based on the “season” one is

in.109 Heuertz argues that “wings serve to balance your type.”110 No matter the Enneagram theory

on wings, it is the location of the numbers on the symbol that determines their relatedness. The

second way numbers are related is through the “theory of Integration and Disintegration.”111 This

theory relies on tracing the Enneagram symbol to move from number to number in a specific

pattern. As one moves along the designated arrows of integration, “and on the way to spiritual

maturity,” they “find true consolation with the positive qualities of the number[s]” they

encounter.112 Similarly, if one moves along the arrow path of disintegration, one will experience

his or her “unhealthy inner states” and be able to recognize “destructive patterns” and modify

behavior.113

Numerology has its own diagram and uses numbers in a similar way to the Enneagram.

The numerology chart is called a “Birth Chart” and is drawn as a tic-tac-toe board.114 Each space

is filled by a person’s birth numbers, which are later correlated to a “Spiritual Plane,” which

describes how people act and react to “other people and circumstances,” similar to the

Enneagram’s personality types.115 Numerology also incorporates the use of arrows, which are

drawn “where any three numbers exist in a straight line, or where any three spaces exist in a

108 Fryling, Mirror for the Soul: A Christian Guide to the Enneagram, Kindle, 1452.

109 Ibid.





114 Phillips, The Complete Book of Numerology: Discovering the Inner Self, Kindle, 200.

115 Phillips, The Complete Book of Numerology, Kindle, 232-245.

200

straight line.”116 Similar to the Enneagram, “arrows of numbers are those of strength” and

correspond to the Enneagram’s integration path and “arrows of empty spaces are those of

weakness,” which are analogous to the Enneagram’s disintegration path.117

The Enneagram also mirrors numerology in terms of how it describes its personality

types. The following is a diagram with comparisons of quotations from depictions of Enneagram

numbers vs. depictions of Birth Numbers from numerology. Note: this diagram is not affirming

any connections between the Enneagram number and Numerology number. The point of the

chart is to demonstrate that the way in which both programs handle their depictions is strikingly

similar.

Table 4.1. Comparison of Enneagram and Numerology

(Enneagram Type/

Numerology House)

Enneagram Numerology

Type 1: The Perfectionist/

Ruling Number 9

“Healthy Ones are committed

to a life of service and

integrity. They are balanced

and responsible and able to

forgive themselves and others

for being imperfect.”118

“To serve and improve

human life are at the very

heart of Ruling 9’s

expression.”119

116 Phillips, The Complete Book of Numerology, Kindle, 722.

117 Ibid.



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Type 2: The Helper/Ruling

Number 2

“They are generous in their

efforts to love well and care

for others. These happy,

secure Twos also have

appropriate boundaries.”120

“The Ruling 2 is generally the

sensitive, unassuming,

supportive person.”121

Type 3: The

Performer/Ruling Number 3

“They still love to set goals,

rise to challenges and solve

problems… they feel

valuable, which unleashes a

tender benevolence that is

focused on the common

good.”122

“These people emphasize the

thinking aspects of life…

their service to the

community… is primarily

expressed through thinking,

planning, analyzing,

memorizing.”123

There are a number of features that can be seen in this comparison. First, both the Enneagram

and numerology focus on things that are vague and could be descriptive of any person. Second,

they also describe behaviors that can be reinforced or changed, thus promoting the idea that one

can change one’s self and one’s personality to better align with one’s number. Finally, the way

they talk about behavior naturally leads to reinforcing mentality. Given their high degree of

similarity, it makes sense that Chestnut recognizes that “how to achieve greater peace, freedom,





202

and self-knowledge has been around for hundreds or maybe thousands of years, encoded in

ancient teachings, philosophy, myths, and symbols.”124 In conclusion, the linkages between the

Enneagram and numerology are impossible to ignore and though they have different emphases

and focuses they operate on the same underlying principles.

Comparison of Enneagram to Horoscopes and Astrology

The Enneagram also shares significant overlap with horoscopes and astrology. In the

same vein as astrology, Enneagram authors make heavy use of symbols to describe their

personality types. For instance, Rohr makes use of “animals,” “nations,” “symbolic color,”

“biblical figures,” “saints and personalities from history,” “literature,” and “the current world

scene.”125 Rohr even encourages Enneagram enthusiasts to “give names to the forces at work in

fairy tales or to relate certain styles of music and dance to the nine energies.”126 Rohr believes

that Enneagram depictions benefit from these “playful approximation[s] to each form of

energy.”127 These statements about the Enneagram from Rohr reveal two things, which will be

analyzed in turn: first, the Enneagram and astrology both utilize symbols, and second, they both

understand personalities as being influenced by an esoteric, universal energy-force.

The following is a diagram that compares some examples of the Enneagram’s use of

symbols with their use in astrology.128





128 Ibid.; Jan Spiller, Astrology for the Soul (New York City, NY: Bantam Dell, 2008); Alex Fletcher,

Astrology and Enneagram: Understanding and Finding Yourself Through Astrology and Enneagram (Zodiac Signs,

203

Table 4.2. Comparison of Enneagram and Astrology

Enneagram

Type 5

Enneagram

Type 6

Zodiac Sign

Leo

Zodiac Sign

Cancer

Animal Owl, fox,

hamster

Hare, wolf Lion Crab

Desire Longing for

fulfillment

Freedom to trust To be loved and

love in return

Security and

stability

Color Blue Beige-Brown Gold White

Life Task Learning

commitment and

action

Break free of

authority and

gain

responsibility

Interweave

individual wants

and needs with

the world.

Release of

repressed

feelings

Pitfall Emotional

stinginess

Cowardice Needing

acceptance

Insensitivity

First, it is important to note that there is a high degree of similarity between the type and style of

information reported by both the Enneagram and astrology. Though astrology is broader in its

coverage, both it and the Enneagram place heavy emphasis on personality. Second, a number of

authors have seen clear connections between the Enneagram and astrology and published books

Horoscopes, Personality Types, Spiritual Growth, Self Awareness. Spirituality) (Alex Fletcher, 2018); Peter

Hastings, Enneagram and Astrology: The Complete Guide to the 9 Personality Types and the 12 Zodiac Signs -

Improving Your Relationships and Discover the Basis Numerology and Kundalini: 2 Books in 1 (Peter Hastings,

2020). Excerpts from these books were summarized and used to populate the following figure.

204

connecting the two.129 In conclusion, the descriptive similarities employed by the Enneagram are

very similar to astrology and indicate that the two may be inextricably related.

The second substantial link between the Enneagram and astrology is the view that the

energy of the Enneagram type or astrological sign has real and significant control or influence

over a person’s life. For example, one astrological interpreter, while discussing the astrological

sign of cancer, states that “the essence of [their] energy is sensitivity, femininity, [and]

creativity.”130 Additionally, the astrological guide states that the “Cancer” energy can be

“negative” and lead to “gossip, being hypersensitive, cliques, and being overly competitive.”131

Similarly, Enneagram philosophers also utilize the concept of energy to describe how

Enneagram types have power over people. For instance, Rohr states that “each one of the

Enneagram numbers refers to a certain state of energy . . . [and] the connecting lines [of the

Enneagram symbol] point to the dynamics between specific points of energy.”132 Later on, Rohr

argues that when one is younger, “one must let one’s self be guided by the energy that seems to

be natural.”133 Heuertz also affirms the existence of Enneagram energy saying, “we possess

within us the energies or aspects of all nine types.”134 In conclusion, the method through which

129 Hastings, Enneagram and Astrology: The Complete Guide to the 9 Personality Types and the 12 Zodiac

Signs - Improving Your Relationships and Discover the Basis Numerology and Kundalini: 2 Books in 1; Fletcher,

Astrology and Enneagram: Understanding and Finding Yourself Through Astrology and Enneagram (Zodiac Signs,

Horoscopes, Personality Types, Spiritual Growth, Self Awareness. Spirituality).

130 Fletcher, Astrology and Enneagram: Understanding and Finding Yourself Through Astrology and

Enneagram (Zodiac Signs, Horoscopes, Personality Types, Spiritual Growth, Self Awareness. Spirituality), Kindle,

316.

131 Ibid.




205

astrological signs and Enneagram types act seems to be mystically identified with the concept of

an energy that can influence a person’s personality.

Attempts to Christianize the Enneagram

As the prior sections have discussed many of the Christian versions of the Enneagram in

great detail, this section will present some of the teachings of the primary Christian Enneagram

teachers that, while not necessarily held by all, are nonetheless part of the overall Enneagram

tapestry.

Richard Rohr

Being the central figure whom nearly every other Protestant Christian cites in their own

works on the Enneagram, Richard Rohr’s views on the Enneagram are vital to understand, and

one recent work critiquing the Enneagram states that “one cannot disconnect the Enneagram

from Richard Rohr.”135 First, it is worthwhile to assess his personal justification for the adoption

of the Enneagram for Christian use. He argues that “in principle, the whole world and everything

in it that is good, true, and beautiful is at the disposal of Christians: ‘For all things are yours…

and you are Christ’s.’”136 He also mentions that “Paul himself and John the Evangelist have

taken over and ‘baptized’ ideas and images from the Greek philosophy of religion of their own

day.”137 Both of these justifications are fraught with error. In stating that “all things are yours,”

Rohr is neglecting to note that the context of the verse is rather focused on making an argument

against the wisdom of the world. For instance, Paul, three verses prior, states that “the wisdom of

135 Don Veinot, Joy Veinot, and Marcia Montenegro, Richard Rohr and the Enneagram Secret (Wonder

Lake, IL: MCOI Publishing, 2020), Kindle, 315.


137 Ibid.

206

this world is foolishness in God’s sight.”138 Additionally, the juxtaposition of the two wisdoms

indicates that “to be wise in God’s way of seeing things means becoming a fool in this age.”139

Thus, when Paul writes that no one should boast in people, he is referencing that the true source

of all good wisdom is God and not people. If a piece of wisdom is truly of God, it cannot be

contained by an individual person or personal teaching. With this context set, the “all things”

mentioned in 1 Corinthians 3:21 can be understood to mean all the spiritual blessings of the

gospel. There are not “superior spiritual group[s]” that one can belong to in order to attain

greater blessings, “for in Christ everything that has been done for God’s people has had them in

mind from start to finish.”140 Instead of being a defense of the use of the Enneagram, the third

chapter of 1 Corinthians presents a strong case that the Enneagram is actually exactly the type of

thing that Paul was arguing against—a piece of the world’s wisdom that sets up a special

spiritual class of people who have access to greater spiritual blessings than the average Christian.

Second, Rohr falsely equivocates Paul and John’s use of Greek terminology to describe

God with using worldly rituals and practices as part of the process of sanctification. Theologians

John Piper, Justin Taylor, and Paul Kjoss Helse provide a substantial and thorough defense of a

biblical theology of God anthropomorphizing Himself in order to communicate His nature to

mankind.141 Paul and John’s use of the surrounding culture’s terms and ideas falls in accordance

with this theology. However, it is important to note their use of this terminology does not

138 1 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV).

139 Paul Gardner, 1 Corinthians, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids,

MI: Zondervan, 2018), Kindle, 5510.

140 Gardner, 1 Corinthians, Kindle, 5565.

141 Piper, Taylor, and Helseth, Beyond the Bounds: Open Theism and the Undermining of Biblical

Christianity.

207

incorporate Hellenistic theology. For instance, John’s use of the word “logos” is not in “the

Platonist sense,” “the Stoic sense,” nor the “Neoplatonist” sense; rather, he uses the word “in the

OT/Jewish sense,” which “denotes the Word of God as Creator of all things, revelatory of God’s

will and sovereignly effective of his decrees concerning human history.”142 By utilizing the

Greek language, Paul and John were not only able to reinforce Jewish orthodoxy, but also speak

to the Greeks. Paul and John asserted the logos as the “personal presence of God himself in the

Son” over and against the more commonly accepted Greek creative forces of kaos and kosmos.143

Without syncretizing, they were able to utilize the Greek language and avoid adopting Greek

ideology. In contrast, the Enneagram is an attempt to fit Christian principles into the mindset of

ancient wisdom, not reason from similarities within ancient wisdom to the Scriptures and God of

Christianity. For these reasons, both of Rohr’s justifications are ineffective at defending the

Enneagram’s use in Christianity.

Rohr also criticizes traditional orthodoxy, stating that “Christians are inclined to speak

with great gusto about how grace alone is efficacious, but we have no answers when people ask

how they can experience this redeeming, life-changing grace.”144 His answer to his own question

is to go to the Eastern spiritual teachers from whom he learned about the Enneagram, which he

argues is “a parabolic form of teaching” that “subverts our unconscious and truly ‘mythical’

worldview so that God can get in.”145 He then goes on to say that this “rearrangement of reality”

142 Klink, John, Kindle, 2397.

143 Pierce Taylor Hibbs, “In the Beginning Was the Word: John 1:1-5 and a Revelational Theory of

Metaphor,” Westminster Theological Journal 80 (2018): 95; Danijel Casni, “Christ: The Logos Incarnate,” KAIROS

- Evangelical Journal of Theology IX, no. 2 (2015): 189-194.



208

or “transfigured universe is the only thing that Jesus means by ‘the Truth.’”146 It is worthwhile to

point out that Rohr’s assertion is in direct contradiction with Jesus’s own testimony that He and

He alone is “the way the truth and the life.”147 This heresy is what later prompts Rohr to argue

that the only way to the Truth is through “suffering and prayer,” and the Enneagram is the best

tool to generate these experiences.148 Thus, in the central, blasphemous statement in his book

Rohr cries out that “God saves humanity not by punishing it but by restoring it!”149 This is in

direct denial of the doctrine of atonement which states that God fully meted out His wrath

against humanity on the human nature of Jesus Christ. God did not save humanity by restoring it,

but by punishing Jesus Christ.

Rohr also exhibits severely compromised views on God and creation. He mystifies and

depersonalizes God by saying things like, “we have to press through to God, the Totally

Objective, who for Christians is at the same time Totally Ours, since he has committed himself to

our world and become part of it.”150 Rather than the revelation of God being found in the Word

of God as Scripture, Rohr tells Christians that “the mystery of God’s revelation is hidden inside,

and in each of us in a different, unique way (at least nine general God images).”151 Thus, Jesus in

Rohr’s view is bifurcated and had to become “the Human One who believed the divine image in

himself, who trusted it, followed it, and told us to do the same.”152 In merging God with


147 John 14:6.





152 Ibid.

209

Creation, Rohr asserts that “Christ represents God and hence the essence of the world, its true

being.”153 These views represent Rohr’s general rejection of classical theism that has been the

standard for Christian orthodoxy for nearly 2,000 years. They are deeply intwined with his

Christian version of the Enneagram and thus with most views of the Enneagram that protestant

Christians will encounter.

Christopher Heuertz

Heuertz approaches the Enneagram from an anthropocentric perspective as he asks “Who

am I?”—the question that he believes to be the “the fundamental question of our human

experience, the one that compels us to search for meaning.”154 To answer this question, he relies

on the Enneagram which details how one can move from “basic knowledge to principled

understanding to embodied integration” of one’s personality and attain the True Self.155 He

asserts that each Enneagram type is “a compassionate sketch of possibilities and opportunities,

pointing us back to our True Self and to the anchoring god whose name is Love.”156

The redefinition of God’s revelation is a fundamental linchpin in both Heuertz’s theology

and the Enneagram. Rather than Scripture, Heuertz relies on eternal archetypes and laws of the

universe. For example, he affirms the following Laws as the truth that can be found in any

religion: The Law of One, or the general “eternity, unity, wholeness, and inclusivity of all

things,” the Law of Three that “three forces guide everything in motion: active, passive, and


154 Heuertz, The Sacred Enneagram: Finding Your Unique Path to Spiritual Growth, 366.



210

neutral,” and the Law of Seven that everything exists on a “spectrum” often with “seven”

parts.157 These Laws reflect Heuertz’s theology, whereby he divinizes creation. For instance, his

Law of One reinforces the idea that everything is eternal, and everything is one substance. This is

the textbook definition of pantheism. Second, his Law of Three creates a set of forces that are

impersonal and co-eternal with God, thereby striking at God’s sovereignty over the universe.

Third, his Law of Seven relativizes truth by asserting that all things exist on a spectrum; this

contradicts the existence of biblical binaries such as sin/not sin, male/female, and clean/unclean.

Thus, Heuertz’s adherence to Enneagram philosophy trumps and contradicts Scripture.158

Additionally, Heuertz asserts that no matter the religion or belief system, “Divine Love is

in all truth no matter where it may be found.”159 The one source of revelation that is consistently

missing from his discussion is the Bible itself. Instead, he promotes the idea that our primary

modes of hearing God are sensorial in nature and instructs Christians to “trust the voice of God

that speaks in our hearts . . . listen to God in our minds . . . learn to sense God at work in our

bodies,” rather than reading the very Word of God.160 He argues that “each of these Intelligence

Centers offers us a different way of experiencing the loving presence and voice of God.”161 In

general, Heuertz sees the Enneagram as a full replacement for true, authentic study of Scripture.

157 Heuertz, The Sacred Enneagram: Finding Your Unique Path to Spiritual Growth, Kindle, 724-755.

158 Ibid, Kindle, 760, 1600, 2791, 4890. Heuertz utilizes Scripture in a way that is indicative of many

Enneagram teachers. In his book, The Sacred Enneagram, Heuertz utilizes Scripture selectively to accentuate points

made by the Enneagram. The McCords utilize Scripture in the same way in their book, Becoming Us, see loc. 703.

Both of these Enneagram teachers discuss utilizing “the Enneagram from a biblical perspective,” which is another

way of saying that they start assuming the validity and truth of the Enneagram and rework the language into biblical

terms while simultaneously proof-texting Enneagram assertions with out of context verses, see chapter 4 of

Becoming Us. The Enneagram is the “GPS” of spiritual growth, not the Bible, see Becoming Us, loc. 712.




211

Cron and Stabile

Cron and Stabile do not discuss the philosophy or theology of the Enneagram in detail.

However, one statement in particular is worth examining. Cron reflects on his entrance into the

Enneagram saying, “So what led me to believe that writing a book about an archaic, historically

questionable, scientifically unsupported personality typing system was a good idea?”162 The

answer, he reports, is revealed throughout the rest of the chapter, and can be summarized in this

way—the reason Cron wrote a book about the Enneagram is because he personally found benefit

from it and found it “very useful.”163 This is a clear example of a flawed theological method,

whereby Cron has placed experience over divine revelation in the development of theology and

has replaced cross-examination of the Scripture with positive experience as his ultimate test of

truth.

Assessment Criteria

Revelation

Table 4.3. Revelation Criteria and the Enneagram

Legend Syncretism with

New Age (Red)

Unique

Heterodoxy

(Yellow)

Orthodoxy

(Green)

Gray (Not

Applicable)

Criterion

Number

Criterion

Description

Christian

Teaching

New Age

Movement

Teaching

Enneagram

Teaching



212

1 Form of

authoritative

revelation

Propositional

revelation

(Scripture)

New

consciousness

(spiritual

enlightenment)

New

Consciousness

and

Gnosticism

2 God’s ability to

speak

God can speak

authoritatively

through prophesy

and Scripture to

mankind

God is impersonal

and cannot speak

with mankind;

mankind becomes

aware of divine

essence

Ultimate

revelation

does not come

through God

but the

Enneagram.

3 Changeability of

God’s speech

God’s written

word cannot

change

People’s

consciousness and

knowledge of god

is always

changing

God’s Word is

subservient to

the

Enneagram


servants; demons

are evil angels

who are in

rebellion against

God

Spirits are

generally good

and in their own

process of

evolution

N/A

213


God; they are not

to be contacted by

humans

Spirits are to be

contacted directly

by people

N/A

6 Spiritual beings:

work

Angels protect

people and deliver

God’s messages

to people; demons

physically harm

people, attempt to

thwart the gospel,

and teach false

doctrine

Spiritual beings

assist people in

attaining

consciousness of

their divinity,

teach new

doctrine, and

show humans

how to

manipulate the

physical world

N/A

7 Sufficiency of

revelation

Scripture is

sufficient for the

knowledge of God

and God’s

redemptive plan

for humanity

Further revelation

through prophesy

or channeling is

required to attain

divine

consciousness

Revelation is

not sufficient;

the

Enneagram is

necessary to

draw near to

God

214

8 View of truth Absolute truth

exists and is

knowable because

God’s view of

reality is complete

and authoritative;

He communicated

truth to humanity

through His word

Absolute truth

does not exist

because the

universal mind in

impersonal and

does not have a

perspective of its

own; thus, each

individual

person’s

perspective,

though

relativistic, is

authoritative for

him or herself

Absolute truth

does not exist

because God

has not

spoken

definitely;

mankind

determines the

truth about

itself

individually

and can

change that

truth

9 Word of God The Bible is

identical to the

word of God and

thus is true and

authoritative

Man’s words are

divine words and

thus create reality

The Bible is

good but not

authoritative


prophetic

commission was

Awareness of

one’s Christ

consciousness

Ultimate

authority

resides in the

215

given by Jesus to

specific

individuals to

write the

derivative word of

God

gives individuals

the authority and

power to speak

what they want

into being

Enneagram

itself and in

the

individual’s

ability to

acquire access

to the True

Self

11 Power of human

words and thought

Human words

have no inherent

supernatural

power

Human words

have the

supernatural

power to create,

heal, and destroy

N/A

God and Creation

Table 4.4. God and Creation Criteria and the Enneagram


New Age (Red)

Unique

Heterodoxy

(Yellow)

Orthodoxy

(Green)

Gray (Not

Applicable)

Criterion

Number

Criterion

Description

Christian

Teaching

New Age

Movement

Teaching

Enneagram

Teaching

216

1 Ontological

Creator/Creation

Relationship

Creator and

Creation are

ontologically

distinct

Creator and

Creation are either

ontologically

identical, on a

continuum, or

mixed in some

way

Christian

versions of the

Enneagram

teach either

partial (Christ

Consciousness)

or full identity

of creation

with God

2 Creation Event God made

creation apart

from any

external help

Creation

continually

remakes itself

You transform

yourself into

the True Self

3 God’s authority God maintains

full authority

and sovereignty

over creation

Creation governs

itself

The

Enneagram

energy controls

individual

people, yet

people are

autonomous


substance types

God and

creation are

God and creation

are the same

substance

Either God and

creation are the

same substance

217

different

substances

or God’s

substance is

incarnate in

creation


nature

All of nature is

fully present but

not identical to

God at all times

God is one with

nature

God is

incarnationally

present in

nature, or one

with nature


humanity

God makes

Himself known

to humanity

through His

word and works


mankind; thus,

man becomes

internally aware

he is god

God is either

equivalent to

humanity or

incarnated in

humanity

(Christ

Consciousness)


over history

Mankind and the

Cosmos control

history

Mankind

controls its

own destiny

8 Immutability of

substance

God does not

change

ontologically

God is in process

of spiritual

evolution

The

assumption of

a pantheistic or

panentheistic

218

view of God

necessitates

His ability to

change

9 Immutability of

knowledge and

decree

God’s

knowledge is

fixed and His

decree is eternal

God’s knowledge

continuously

increases and it

does not have a

decree; individuals

have changing

decrees

The

assumption of

a pantheistic or

panentheistic

view of God

necessitates a

relativistic

view of God’s

knowledge

10 Depiction of God God is triune:

three persons in

one essence

God is an

impersonal,

unconscious,

universal mind

force out of which

individual

consciousnesses

evolve

God is an

impersonal

force or energy

called Love

that exists

within all

things; Christ

Consciousness

is a mantel and

the Holy Spirit

219

is

depersonalized

at times; the

True Self is a

new

consciousness


monotheism

Pantheism or

Panentheism

Pantheism or

Panentheism

12 Identity of Jesus Jesus is the only

and unique

ontological Son

of God; He is

the only Christ

or Messiah

Jesus is a human

being who attained

high levels of

divine

consciousness by

being one among

many who gained

Christ

consciousness

Jesus is a

human being

who reflected

all nine

Enneagram

types and is

one among

many who

exhibits Christ

Consciousness

13 Uniqueness of the

Christ

Jesus is the only

Christ and has

been for eternity

All people can

attain Christ

consciousness and

become Christs or

anointed

All people can

attain Christ

consciousness

220

The Nature and Purpose of Humanity

Table 4.5. The Nature and Purpose of Humanity Criteria and the Enneagram


New Age (Red)

Unique

Heterodoxy

(Yellow)

Orthodoxy

(Green)

Gray (Not

Applicable)

Criterion

Number

Criterion

Description

Christian

Teaching

New Age

Movement

Teaching

Enneagram

Teaching

1 Anthropology:

substance

Mankind’s nature

is both physical

and non-physical,

yet distinct from

God and creation

Mankind, nature,

and god are one

continuous

substance

God is either

one with

mankind or

incarnate in

mankind

2 Anthropology:

creation of mankind

God created and

defined mankind

Mankind creates

and defines itself

Mankind is

created by

God but

defines itself

through the

Enneagram

and True Self

3 Anthropology:

mankind’s

relationship to God

Man is made in

the image of God

Mankind is made

from the

substance of god

God is

incarnate in

mankind or of

221

the same

substance

4 Anthropology:

identity

Christians find

their identity in

Christ through

His indwelling;

Christ and

believers remain

distinct

individuals

The acquisition of

Christ

consciousness

allows one to

become one’s true

self

Acquisition of

Christ

Consciousness

allows one to

become one’s

True Self

5 Eschatology: now By the power of

the Holy Spirit,

God is creating

the body of

Christ who is

being sanctified

to participate in

the eternal

kingdom

Through Christ

consciousness, all

distinctions on

earth are being

erased and

conflict between

people is being

eradicated

People learn

to embody the

nine

Enneagram

types to fully

integrate the

True Self

6 Eschatology: God’s

role

God’s authority

and kingdom are

fully realized

throughout the

As all distinctions

are erased through

awareness of the

universal mind,

God helps

people see the

divinity

within and

222

new heaven and

new earth

war and conflict

end; creation of a

boundaryless

worldwide

country

conform to

their true self

7 Eschatology:

humanity’s role

To love God and

love one’s

neighbor

To affirm divine

autonomy of

every individual

To affirm the

autonomous

True Self


rebellion are

eradicated:

individuality is

maintained

Conflict is

eradicated,

individuality is

blurred, personal

autonomy reigns

supreme

Conflict is

eradicated

through

perfect

relationships

that come as a

result of

integrating

with the True

Self


sanctification

Achieved through

eradication of

distinctions

Achieved

through the

Enneagram

and the True

Self

223

Sin and Salvation

Table 4.6. Sin and Salvation Criteria and the Enneagram


New Age (Red)

Unique

Heterodoxy

(Yellow)

Orthodoxy

(Green)

Gray (Not

Applicable)

Criterion

Number

Criterion

Description

Christian

Teaching

New Age

Movement

Teaching

Enneagram

Teaching

1 Problem with

humanity

Humanity has

sinned against

God and is

separate from

God

Ignorance of

divine nature and

true self

Ignorance of

the True Self

and

actualization

of the False

Self through

childhood

wounds

2 Consequence of

problem

Spiritual and

physical death;

eternity in hell

Continual

reincarnation

High potential

for universal

salvation

3 Baseline state of

humanity

Unholy, not good,

sinful

Humanity is

essentially good

Humanity is

essentially

good

224

4 Solution to the

problem: mode

Penal

substitutionary

atonement

Acquisition of

hidden or gnostic

knowledge

Acquisition of

hidden or

gnostic

knowledge of

the True Self

5 Solution to the

problem: means

Faith in Jesus and

His sacrifice

Spiritual

encounters and

religious

practices lead to

enlightened

consciousness

Intensive study

of the

Enneagram

and self-

reflection leads

to the

discovery of

the True Self


salvation

Jesus’ atonement

on the cross is

fully sufficient for

salvation; faith is

all that is required

NAM practices

require continual

work and are not


enlightenment

Enneagram

requires

continual inner

work through

spiritual

disciplines and

study of the

Enneagram

Type

225

7 Sanctification:

definition

Process by which

God makes

believers holy in

character and set

apart for Himself

Process by which

adherents become

aware of their

connection to the

Cosmos and

discover their true

self

Process by

which

adherents

become aware

of the True

Self and

integrate with

it and God

8 Sanctification:

means

The Holy Spirit,

through the

regenerate heart

and cooperation

of the believer,

purge sin from his

or her life

Increased

participation in

spiritual practices

causes

individuals to

become aware of

their divine

nature

Sanctification

occurs by

engagement

with the

Enneagram

and spiritual

disciplines

9 Destiny of mankind Glorification

through the

general

resurrection (new

physical body),

completion of

sanctification, and

Deification

through

becoming one

with the Cosmos;

no resurrection of

the physical

Attaining the

True Self;

Christ

Consciousness,

integrating the

divinity within

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reception of

eternal life

body, only

reincarnation

10 Eschatological

community

Eternal

community of

morally perfect

beings

Recognition of

the individual as

alone in the

universe

Eternal

community of

integrated

beings

Spirituality

Table 4.7. Spirituality Criteria and the Enneagram


New Age (Red)

Unique

Heterodoxy

(Yellow)

Orthodoxy

(Green)

Gray (Not

Applicable)

Criterion

Number

Criterion

Description

Christian

Teaching

New Age

Movement

Teaching

Enneagram

Teaching

1 Purpose of

Spirituality

Spirituality is the

deepening of

one’s relationship

with God through

worship or the

structured and

ordered

To attain

awareness of

one’s own divinity

and unite one with

the Cosmos

To reject the

false self of

the

Enneagram

number and

embody the

True Self,

227

expression of the

proper response

of the people of

God to the

revelation of God

in Christ

which some

equate with

Divinity

2 Focus of

Spirituality

Adoration and

praise for the

triune God of

Christianity

Celebration of

one’s own divinity

and power

Celebration of

one’s own

True Self

3 Experience of

Spirituality

Transcendent

meeting with the

living God

Engagement with

the part of self that

is transcendent or

divine

Engagement

with the True

Self

4 Centrality of

Scripture and

Doctrine

Practice reflects

and emphasizes,

God and His

work as revealed

in Scripture

Practice focuses

on the self, self-

divinity, and

obtaining personal

desires

Practice

focuses on

gnostic

wisdom and

attaining the

True Self

5 Exposure of False

Doctrine

Authentic

spirituality

Emphasizes the

acceptance false

doctrine

Teaches false

doctrine of

228

exposes false

doctrine

God, man, and

creation

6 Separation of

Theology and

Practice

Scripture

indicates that

pagan religious

practices are

inextricably

linked to idolatry

and cannot be

separated from

their origins

The New Age

Movement

borrows practices

from a variety of

religions and

contextualizes

them in a new

theological setting

Theology and

Practice can

be separated,

the

Enneagram

can be used

by any

religion

7 Proper Sacrifice Christ’s Sacrifice

is sufficient for

sins—People are

living sacrifices

Material sacrifice

(time, money,

skills, work) in

exchange for

spiritual growth or

ascension

Sacrifice is

found in the

doing of inner

work

8 Praising YHWH Required Not required Not required

9 Proper Heart Doing the will of

God,

Having an upright

heart

Openness to all

beliefs and

worldviews

Morality is

not required;

you must be

open to

revealing and

229

accepting that

dark parts of

the self

10 Connecting with

God

Direct encounter

with God (Prayer,

Word of God,

Holy Spirit)

Indirect Encounter

(necromancy,

mediumship,

spiritism,

channeling, use of

physical medium)

Cosmic

Christ/Christ

Consciousness

is the standard

method of

encountering

God, this is

panentheistic

11 Angelic Encounters Sent by God Contacted by man N/A

12 Purpose of Angelic

Encounters

Deliver God’s

message,

protection

Reveal new truth

and doctrine,

assist in ascension

of consciousness

N/A

13 Links to Idolatry Prohibited Accepted Accepted

14 Use of Magic Prohibited Accepted (magic,

occult,

Gnosticism,

sorcery,

witchcraft,

The

Enneagram is

numerology

and astrology

230

divination, fortune

telling)

15 Use of Music For thanksgiving

and praise, with

reverence to

doctrine

For inducing a

state of spiritual

openness

N/A

16 Prayer Focused on who

God is and in line

with His

teachings, cannot

be repetitious

A means of

ascending to a

higher

consciousness, can

be repetitious

Prayer is a

way of

discovering

the True Self

17 Prophecy In line with prior

revelation,

requires P-A

Commission, is

true, must glorify

God, build up the

church, and assist

in the Great

Commission,

cannot profit off

of it

Can disagree with

prior revelation,

requires spiritual

empowerment,

can focus on

personal growth

and

empowerment,

can profit off of it

The

Enneagram is

ancient

wisdom that is

higher than

Biblical

wisdom that is

useful for

spiritual

growth and

empowerment

231

and can profit

off of it

Analysis and Recommendation

The first part of Chapter 4 has focused on the assessment of the Enneagram for Christian

use. To begin this section, the core theological convictions of the Christian versions of the

Enneagram were exposed and compared to Scripture and orthodox doctrine. First, the

Enneagram’s stance on sin, total depravity, and the fall of man was depicted. The Enneagram

teaches that sin is obsession or addiction to the use of one’s innate gifts. It is also described as

the ignorance of one’s True Self and the acceptance of the delusion of the False Self. Sin is not

related to disobedience toward God, nor is it the committing of inherently immoral acts. People

are not inherently sinful, nor do they have an unchangeable fallen nature. Ultimately, the

Enneagram teaches that both the good and bad aspects of people need to be fully integrated into

their personalities in order to recover the True Self. This teaching is contrary to everything

Scripture teaches about humanity and sin. The Bible presents sin as a direct violation of God’s

Law and as rebellion against Him and His Kingdom. In Scripture, sin has the effect of

permanently corrupting people, causing physical death, spiritual death, moral corruption,

bondage of the will, and hardness of heart.

Second, the Enneagram rejects Scripture as authoritative divine revelation in favor of a

new consciousness model of revelation whereby people become aware of their True Self and the

incarnate divinity that resides in them. This form of revelation is also backed by a

gnostic/esoteric body of knowledge that has been transmitted in the Enneagram. This form of

knowledge is not authoritative; rather, it acts as a guideline to help people position themselves to

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receive the full revelation of the True Self. The only way to gain access to the revelation of

higher consciousness is to dedicate oneself to the continual practice of inner work by which one

studies the self and attempts to recover and embody one’s holy idea and holy virtue. This

understanding of revelation stands in opposition to Scripture—as Scripture asserts its authority,

supremacy, and sufficiency over all of the world’s knowledge and wisdom. Additionally,

Scripture does not present itself as gnostic and only for the few; rather, it is God’s revelation to

all of mankind and is freely assessable by all. It does not require inner work nor sanctification to

comprehend it. The Bible as the Word of God confronts people as they are and calls them to

submit their lives to Christ, to accept His sacrifice in payment of the debt of their sins, and to

hold Scripture as the ultimate authority in their lives.

Third, the Enneagram promotes a false view of sanctification whereby people have to

internalize their Holy Idea and Holy Virtue in order to grow spiritually. The Enneagram assigns

one Holy Idea and one Holy Virtue to every personality type. By fighting to mentally and

psychologically engage with these virtues, one is able to fight back against the obsessive parts of

his or her personality and gain mental clarity and awareness of the True Self. This fight is said to

be accomplished by the power of God, while at the same time through the full effort of the

individual. The Enneagram’s understanding of sanctification conflates the means of

sanctification with its fruit. People cannot sanctify themselves. Nothing people do can change

their spiritual condition or free them from spiritual addictions. The Holy Spirit alone transforms

people into the likeness of Christ which produces good works, fruit, and morally upright actions

as a result. Sanctification is a work of the Spirit of God who brings forth good fruit in the actions

of individuals.

233

Fourth, salvation is radically redefined under the Enneagram’s philosophy. The

Enneagram presents itself as a pathway to the nine ways one can restore one’s relationship with

God and awaken to the True Self. According to Enneagram teachers, no one is actually in danger

of eternal judgment in hell, because no one has acquired a permanent moral sin penalty, nor has

anyone fallen to such a level that they cannot dig themselves out. Instead, salvation is the journey

one goes on in an attempt to restore the True Self. One is not inherently holy or unholy for the

Enneagram is not concerned with those designations. Morality itself is insignificant with regard

to the ultimate quest of the Enneagram. One can only find one’s way back to God by recognizing

which of the nine personality types one has come to embody, and then, work to integrate one’s

Holy Idea and Virtue into one’s life so that one can awaken to the True Self. This understanding

of salvation stands as an affront to truth of the Gospel. People are sinful from birth, sin

throughout their lives against a holy God, and stand condemned to hell. The only means by

which people may be saved is if God, as a man, pays the death penalty they deserve on their

behalf, and then they accept God’s sacrifice on faith and take Him as Lord and Savior. The idea

that there are nine ways we fall away from God and nine ways we return to Him rejects the truth

that there is only one way to God, and that is through Jesus Christ.

Fifth, the Enneagram states that the path to reconciliation and mended relationships is a

better understanding of others’ personalities and an acceptance of them as legitimate. It frames

relational disfunction not in terms of sin, but in terms of knowing how to properly respond to

people with different personality types.164 Additionally, the Enneagram also promotes things that

164 Merve Emre, The Personality Brokers: The Strange History of Myers-Briggs and the Birth of

Personality Testing (New York City, NY: Anchor, 2018), Kindle, XVI; Annie Murphy Paul, The Cult of Personality

Testing: How Personality Tests Are Leading Us to Miseducate Our Children, Mismanage Our Companies, and

Misunderstand Ourselves (New York City, NY: Free Press, 2010), Kindle, n.p.; Jay E. Adams, A Theology of

Christian Counseling: More than Redemption (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1979), Kindle, 179-184. There are a

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one can do in order to have good relationships. Fundamentally, the Enneagram ignores the reality

that relationships are distorted, and people are alienated by sin not by personality types. The

Bible states that the only way to redeem relationships and come into full peace, or shalom, with

others is by being sanctified by the Holy Spirit and by being brought into the body of Christ,

which redefines all of redeemed humanity as brothers and sisters.

Sixth, the Enneagram promotes a distorted view of humanity in its assertion that there are

nine personality types. These personality types define why people act, think, and feel the way

they do, which takes a significant degree of agency away from people. In order to overcome this

deterministic hold that the personality has on people, one must become enlightened to the truth

about oneself that he or she is good and that the True Self is real. Jesus is also redefined in this

framework, as He is presented as the first one who was able to manifest all nine fruit of the nine

personality types, and thus bring unity to mankind through the Enneagram. The Bible takes the

viewpoint that humanity is created by God and that, as God’s creation, it is good; however, due

to sin mankind has become corrupt. Additionally, it is not a personality type that drives or

motivates peoples’ actions; instead, it is either the Holy Spirit or the sin nature that is the

dominant influencer in a person’s life. The sinner is in bondage to the inclination to sin whereas

wide variety of personality typing systems other than the Enneagram, which include the Myers-Briggs assessment

and the DISC analysis. Though a thorough assessment of these other systems is beyond the scope of this

dissertation, there are a few comments that should be made. First, there is a growing body of evidence that suggests

that personality typing systems are fundamentally destructive, as “the labeling of live human beings emerged as one

technique for annihilating individuality.” Second, there are books like Annie Murphy Paul’s, The Cult of

Personality, which are written from a secular perspective and demonstrate that personality typing systems have

“thrived in the shade of casual neglect, growing unchecked along with abuses like invasive questions, inaccurate

labels, and unjust outcomes.” Third, this author holds that authentic biblical counseling is the only form of counsel

that Christians should seek. In agreement with preeminent biblical counselor and professor Jay Adams, this author

affirms that “the Bible’s position is that all counsel that is not revelational (biblical), or based upon God’s revelation,

is Satanic . . . when counsel is given by those who align themselves with some other counsel than God’s the counsel

that is given is called ‘the counsel of the ungodly’ (Ps. 1:1).”

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the believer has submitted his or herself to the Holy Spirit. To deny the existence of the

holy/fallen inclination is to remove the majority of agency from mankind.

Seventh, teachers of the Enneagram typically assert that one’s parents have the greatest

impact on one’s personality, as they cause the Childhood Wound that dramatically influences

how he or she will react and behave throughout life. They assert that the negative aspects about

individual people are the inherited shadows of their parents and that only through understanding

how one’s Childhood Wound connects to one’s number can one be truly free to recover the True

Self. Scripturally, though people inherit a rebellious, sinful nature from their parents, they are

absolutely responsible for their own sins. Additionally, depending on the branch of theology one

holds to, some would argue that the same will that was in Adam and Eve as they sinned is also in

all people. By holding a Pelagian understanding of humanity, the Enneagram naturally moves to

a form of salvation that is also self-initiated and self-accomplished. Christianity, on the other

hand, asserts that just as all sinned through Adam, all have the possibility of receiving new life

through Christ.

Eighth, the Christian Enneagram is essentially numerology with a Christian veneer and

Christian terminology. The Enneagram is primarily derived from the ancient wisdom that has

been utilized in virtually all major religions since the dawn of mankind. One aspect of this

wisdom is the heavy use of symbolism, numbers, and geometry to divine eternal truths. The

Enneagram makes use of all these systems in its presentation of its central symbol and the means

and ways in which the personality numbers relate to each other. By learning from and following

the path of the Enneagram—literally, the symbol—one can more quickly realize one’s True Self.

Additionally, the Enneagram also affirms eternal divine laws that run contrary to Scripture and

Christian theology. The Enneagram also makes heavy use of the type of reporting, advice, and

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descriptions that are traditionally used in numerological analysis. The Bible explicitly prohibits

any use of numerological signs as they are ultimately a form of divination and contrary to the

knowledge of God. Instead, Christians are to turn to God’s Word, the Bible, in order to

understand who God is, who they are, and what their ultimate purpose in the world is.

Ninth, the Enneagram also borrows heavily from astrology and horoscopes. It presents

the personality types in similar ways to astrology charts citing that there is an animal, color, life

task, and pitfall that correspond to every personality. On a deeper level, the Enneagram also

holds that the personality types are real “energy” that actually asserts influence in a person’s life.

Astrology holds to a similar premise. The astrological signs literally govern people’s lives and

determine why and how they act. Enneagram authors express similar sentiments when they assert

that the Enneagram’s energy guides them. Scripture presents a worldview that is diametrically

opposed to the supernaturality of the Enneagram. The Bible teaches that God is sovereign over

the universe and is in control of all of history; yet, He allows for real human choice. All people

are fully responsible for their own actions, and God is simultaneously in charge. The best

depiction of this understanding comes from the crucifixion of Jesus done by the Sanhedrin and

Romans as well as ordained by God the Father.165 The Bible also explicitly forbids any form of

astrology or astromancy as false spirituality.

Following the theological analysis, a brief section was included to demonstrate that the

predominant teachers in the Christian Enneagram movement demonstrate significant syncretism

with the New Age Movement and utilize a poor theological method when making decisions

165 For justification see: Romans 8:32 “He did not even spare His own Son but offered Him up for us all;”

Acts 2:23 “Though He was delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless

people to nail Him to a cross and kill Him;” and Mark 15: 9-15 “Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released

Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.”

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about whether or not to utilize a specific practice in the church. For instance, all of the

Enneagram teachers analyzed in this dissertation hold to a theological method that affirms

experience over the divine revelation of Scripture as the best method of determining whether or

not to incorporate a practice into Christianity. Additionally, the two most prominent Christian

Enneagram proponents both hold orthodox theology in contempt and affirm doctrines like

panentheism, universal salvation, and Pelagianism. They also demonstrate a lack of proper

respect for Scripture as they attempt to defend the Enneagram through eisegesis and taking

verses out of context.

The analysis of the Enneagram closes with an evaluation of the Enneagram doctrine

according to the criteria established in Chapter 3. Below is a chart recording the level of

syncretization and heterodoxy that the Enneagram exhibits.

Table 4.8. Summary of the Enneagram Criteria Assessment

Number of theological topics

that showed syncretism

41 (68 percent)


that were unorthodox

12 (20 percent)


that were orthodox

0 (0 percent)


that were irrelevant

7 (12 percent)

Total number of theological topics 60 (100 percent)

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The results of this study necessitate a full rejection of the Enneagram by all Christians.

The Enneagram is a New Age occult tool that has no place in the life of a Christian. Any benefits

that people may gain by using the Enneagram cannot be used to justify its utilization as it

presents a fundamentally anti-Christian, anti-biblical theology that denies Christ. It is

recommended that churches and Christians stop using the Enneagram immediately and treat it

like they do astrology or numerology, which is exactly what it is. Additionally, Christian book

publishers should cease selling all books on the Enneagram as it is a direct violation of their faith

statements. The Christian Enneagram is so fully syncretized with the New Age Movement that it

is virtually indistinguishable from it. As a form of worldly wisdom, the Enneagram is not under

the redemption mandate. To engage with the Enneagram is to engage in idolatry of self.

The removal of the Enneagram will leave a hole in Christians’ lives that needs to be

addressed by the Church through Scripture. This hole can be filled using the doctrines of

anthropology and soteriology. Christians need to be taught the truth about who they are in Christ

and how God is saving them throughout history. First, from the penalty of sin, then from the

desire to sin, and finally from death through the resurrection. If Scripture can again take center

stage in the life of Christians, they will be able to break free of the Enneagram and live as God

intended.

Church Practice #2: Yoga

Fundamentals of All Yoga Forms

Manipulating Physicality to Foster Spiritual Experience

Though yoga is often presented as a set of “physical practices for stretching and stress

reduction,” the fundamental purpose of traditional Hindu forms of yoga is to achieve

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“understanding and complete mastery over the mind.”166 All aspects of both the postures and

breathing techniques are directed at “the restraint of the mental modification” of the mind.167

Through yoga, one is able to prevent external forces from having an impact on one’s mind or

mental state. Through the removal of mental and physiological reactions, the yoga practitioner

can achieve the “purest intelligence,” “pure awareness,” and “omniscience.” This omniscience is

also called “cosmic knowledge,” or the “Supreme Soul.”168 In Hindu theology, the Supreme Soul

is the Brahman or god. Thus, at its core, yoga is an attempt to attain to a spiritual experience

through the manipulation of the physical body.

Though spiritual encounter is at the core of yoga, it has not prevented Americans from

attempting to redefine yoga compartmentally. For example, Usharbudh Arya, a critic of

compartmental yoga, states that Western Americans have attempted to split yoga into three

types. First, “Hollywood Yoga” emphasizes the athletic and physical benefits of yoga and is

designed for “people who want merely to look young, stay young and feel young, both mentally

and physically.”169 Those who wish to study the mental and psychological effects of yoga are

called practitioners of “Harvard Yoga,” and focus on the “transformation of a human being”

166 Sri Swami Satchidananda, trans., The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (Buckingham, VA: Integral Yoga

Publications, 2012), Kindle, 96.


168 Ibid, Kindle, 832, 3249.

169 Ashok Kumar Malhotra Patanjali, An Introduction to Yoga Philosophy: An Annotated Translation of the

Yoga Sutras (Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2001), 15.

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through “personality” changes.170 Finally, “Cultic Yoga” attempts to utilize yogic practice to

achieve “personal powers” like astral projection, spiritual highs, and “enlightenment.”171

However, in spite of attempts to split yoga into different beneficial categories, people

continually revert to the spiritual benefits as either the primary or secondary motivation for

engaging with yoga. In 2016, Crystal Park et. al. conducted a “national survey of yoga

practitioners” consisting of 360 yoga students and 156 yoga teachers.172 Of the students, 61.3

percent reported that they changed their “primary reason” for engaging in yoga as they become

more acquainted with the practice, and of those that changed, the most common new reason was

“spirituality.”173 Additionally, 85.5 percent of teachers also shifted their primary purpose for

engaging in yoga and again “spirituality was the most common” new reason.174 Bussing et. al.

found a similar shift along religious grounds in their study on yoga’s effects on spirituality. They

report that “an intensive yoga practice may significantly increase specific aspects of

practitioners’ spirituality, mindfulness, and mood.”175 A nationwide study in Australia,

conducted by Penman et. al., found that yoga practice “may correlate with a possible reduction in

Christian orientation with years of practice (up to 7 years), and a corresponding potential

170 Ashok Kumar Malhotra Patanjali, An Introduction to Yoga Philosophy: An Annotated Translation of the

Yoga Sutras, 16.

171 Ibid, 17.

172 Crystal L. Park et al., “Why Practice Yoga? Practitioners’ Motivations for Adopting and Maintaining

Yoga Practice,” Journal of Health Psychology 21, no. 6 (2016): 887.

173 Ibid, 891.

174 Ibid, 892.

175 Arndt Bussing et al., “Development of Specific Aspects of Spirituality during a 6-Month Intensive Yoga

Practice,” Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2012 (2012): 6.

241

increase in non-religious spirituality and Buddhism over the same period.”176 Henrichsen-

Schrembs and Versteeg argue that most people initially join yoga as pragmatists who only

engage for the physical benefits, but as those benefits come about, they slowly migrate toward

the true goal of yoga as “new spirituality.”177

Christian versions of yoga also emphasize the spiritual growth aspect and benefits of

yoga. For instance, one large Christian Yoga organization, Holy Yoga®, utilizes a combination of

“Hatha Yoga” and “Bhakti Yoga” to promote “getting in touch with the Holy Spirit by following

the outpourings of our hearts” and using “the postures of Hatha Yoga together with the spiritual

intent . . . of Bhakti Yoga” to experience spiritual growth.178 Additionally, Christian Yoga

utilizes Hatha Yoga, “which promises the ‘union’ with the divine in the here . . . if one follows

its teachings in a disciplined and consistent fashion.”179 Similarly, the founders of Yahweh

Yoga® affirm the spiritual goal of their brand of yoga stating that “every student we have ever

taught has had profound spiritual awakening or strengthening while in training.”180 Both yoga

practices and yoga organizations demonstrate that one of yoga’s main goals is spiritual

development through physical manipulation of body and breath.

176 Stephen Penman et al., “Yoga in Australia: Results of a National Survey,” International Journal of Yoga

5, no. 2 (2012): 92–101.

177 Sabine Henrichsen-Schrembs and Peter Versteeg, “A Typology of Yoga Practitioners: Towards a Model

of Involvment in Alternative Spirituality,” Practical Matters: A Journal of Religious Practices and Practical

Theology (March 1, 2011), 12.

178 Boon, Holy Yoga: Exercise for the Christian Body and Soul,Kindle, 224.

179 Susanne Scholz, “Bible and Yoga: Toward an Esoteric Reading of Biblical Literature,” Buddhist-

Christian Studies 25 (2005): 136.

180 Deanna Smothers and Courtney Chalfant, “About Yahweh Yoga,” Yahweh Yoga: Get Centered with

Christ, n.d., accessed June 27, 2020, https://www.yahwehyoga.com/about/about-yahweh-yoga/.

242

Yoga’s understanding of spirituality is at odds with Scripture at several points. First, yoga

defines spiritual growth in terms of physicality, whereas the Bible depicts spiritual growth along

the lines of Christlikeness, emphasizing love of God and neighbor.181 Second, yoga’s assertion

that the physical affects the spiritual violates God’s command against attempting to manipulate

the spiritual realm via natural means. Third, yoga’s emphasis on spirituality promotes the idea

that people can engage in yogic practices to get closer to or reunite with God. Thus, even

Christian versions of yoga can do severe damage to Christians’ understanding of the gospel.

Union with God is Esoteric

By definition, yoga means to “be in union with” and is central to the practice no matter

which form one chooses to follow.182 In classical Hindu Yoga, union means ontologically

becoming god itself as either Shiva or Brahman.183 However, even among traditional yogic

philosophies, union takes on different forms. For example, the Hindu American Foundation

states, “yoga . . . does not offer ways to believe in God; it offers ways to know God.”184 Thus,

union does not need to be ontological per say; rather it can and often is depicted as being esoteric

or rooted in the acquisition of gnostic spiritual knowledge.

181 This is not to deny that proper stewardship of the body is unimportant to God. However, yoga asserts

that physical health is essential to spiritual growth. The following is a selection of Bible verses that depict the

appropriate approach Christians should have toward physical health: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Luke 12:22, Ephesians

5:29, and Romans 12:1. These verses depict the body as something that is a temple of the Holy Spirit, a living

sacrifice, and something that Christians need “not be anxious about” because God will provide what they need. At

no place in Scripture is the body used as a means to grow closer to God; however, as a gift from God, Christians are

called to be proper stewards of it.

182 Clifford and Johnson, Taboo or to Do?: Is Christianity Complementary with Yoga, Martial Arts,

Hallowe’en, Mindfulness and Other Alternative Practices?, Kindle, 286.

183 Ibid.

184 Swaminathan Venkataraman, quoting B. K. S. Iyengar, in “Disguized Hinduphobia,” Open Magazine,

March 7, 2011, http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/world/disguisedhinduphobia# all as cited in Brown,

“Christian Yoga: Something New Under the Sun/Son?”

243

For instance, in a commentary on the yoga sutras, Swami Satchidananda states that

“although all Knowledge is within you and you need not get it from outside, somebody is still

necessary to help you understand your own knowledge.”185 This “cosmic knowledge is called the

Supreme Soul,” and union with god can be rephrased as understanding the true omniscient

knowledge that is already in oneself. Under this paradigm, yoga, as union, involves the

manipulation of the body to achieve mental or spiritual knowledge. The mind becomes unified

through the “path of self-realization” whereby one recognizes that one is god or can acquire

divine knowledge that leads to spiritual development.186

Though the terminology and phraseology often change, Christianized versions of yoga

also understand union with God to be the acquisition of various types of esoteric knowledge.

Holy Yoga creator, Brooke Boon, states that her version of Bhakti Yoga “leads to a state of mind

that can be described as being immersed in the Holy Spirit.”187 Through the “ancient disciplines,”

Christians can find “communion with Christ” or “Christ-awareness.”188 In her version of yoga,

one gains experiential knowledge of God through yoga, which leads to one being mentally and

spiritually aware of Christ. This awareness is Boon’s understanding of spiritual growth.

The Christian Yoga Association defines Christian Yoga as “a physical practice of

connecting profoundly [and] intimately to our Creator and living God, Jesus Christ with our

185 Swami Satchidananda, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Kindle, 840.

186 Aseem Shukla, “Yoga: Stolen from the Hindus,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 25, 2010, accessed June

28, 2020, https://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/Op-Ed/2010/04/25/Yoga-stolen-from-the-

Hindus/stories/201004250220.

187 Boon, Holy Yoga: Exercise for the Christian Body and Soul, 226.

188 Ibid, 288.

244

entire being; physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.”189 As an extension of this

definition, the union found in yoga is the “uniting [of] our breath, body and spirit with Christ,

truly becoming one with Him,” and can be attained in “the sacred space of His presence.”190

Though these concepts are not explained further, they are given in context of Jean Marie

Dechanet’s teaching on yoga as a way to use “physical exercise and various forms as a way to

connect with God.”191 Thus, knowledge about how to unite the body, breath, and spirit with God

is required for having a truly authentic relationship with God.

Christian theologians have also recognized the place of esoteric knowledge in all forms

of yoga. For example, the Catholic Church issued a formal letter about Eastern practices stating

that “some physical exercises automatically produce a feeling of quiet and relaxation, pleasing

sensations, perhaps even phenomena of light and warmth . . . to take such feelings for the

authentic consolations of the Holy Spirit would be a totally erroneous way of conceiving the

spiritual life.”192 As Cardinal Ratzinger affirms, the biblical understanding of spirituality is not

found in emotions, feelings, man-made works, or ecstatic experiences; it is found in the actions

of the Holy Spirit Himself.

The yogic understanding of union with God differs heavily from the Christian

understanding. In yoga, union with God is physical, mystical, and involves uniting human nature

with God in some way. In contrast, the Bible depicts union with Christ as an identification with

189 “What Is Christian Yoga?,” Christian Yoga Association, n.d., accessed June 28, 2020,

https://christianyogaassociation.org/what-is-christian-yoga/.

190 Ibid.

191 Ibid.

192 Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Some Aspects of Christian

Meditation (Vatican City: United States Catholic Conference, 1989), 28.

245

Christ in His death and resurrection. Christians share in sonship through adoption, in inheritance

through eternal life, and in relationship with God through Christ’s sacrifice. Thus, while the

yogic union with God is ontological, the Christian union with God is relational.

Breath Control is Energy Control

In yogic theology, bodily movement and the mind are connected by proper control of the

prana or breath.193 Hindu versions of yoga assert that the breath controls the “divine energy

within the human body . . . to promote health and spiritual [occult] consciousness and

evolution.”194 The breath is the aspect of the Brahman that exists within each person, and by

controlling it, yoga practitioners can gain “infinite knowledge, infinite power, now.”195 Yogis

assert that this knowledge is the ultimate form of knowledge in the universe, and “there will be

no more need to go to books for knowledge” as “your own mind will have become your

book.”196 Given that the breath work in traditional yoga has little to do with physical health and

everything to do with controlling hidden power within, it seems pertinent to agree with Dave

Fetcho of the Spiritual Counterfeits Project in his assessment that “physical yoga . . . is

inherently and functionally incapable of being separated from Eastern religious metaphysics”

which include impersonal divine substance being found in mankind.197



195 Swami Nikhilananda, Vivekananda, The Yogas and Other Works (New York City, NY: Ramakrishna

and Vivekananda Center, 1953), 592.

196 Ibid, 605.

197 Dave Fetcho, Yoga (Berkeley, CA: Spiritual Counterfeits Project, 1978) as cited in Ankerberg and

Weldon, Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs, 602-603.

246

Christianization of yoga does not attempt to remove the breath control aspects of yoga;

rather, teachers focus on recontextualizing breath control and changing the language used to

describe it. For example, yoga trainer, Luke Frederick, maintains the traditional teaching on the

Hindu chakras while arguing that they are defended in 1 John 4:8. He maintains that an

“understanding of energy centers should always point us to a deeper connection with God’s

truths… and knowledge about chakras can only enhance our physical, spiritual, and emotional

bodies.”198 Though he admits that “energy,” “yoga,” and “chakras” are not found in the Bible, he

argues that the Bible contains echoes of these principles.199 He then explicitly states that yoga

practitioners can intentionally contract their muscles, called “energetic locks,” “with the aim of

redirecting the energy flow within the body” causing “the rise of energy of from our most base

(physical body) to our highest (spiritual body).”200

Susan Bordenkircher, founder of Outstretched in Worship®, states that “God’s presence is

in your breath.”201 In complete agreement with traditional yogic philosophy, she teaches that

“your breath is what connects your mind to your body.”202 In fact, she argues that the breath “is

also your gateway to actually feeling the Holy Spirit moving and working within you . . . God’s

presence is only as far away as your breath.”203 Her brand of yoga also understands the breath as

198 Luke Frederick, “Holy Yoga 101 Workshop Outline” (Holy Yoga, March 16, 2017), accessed June 29,

2020, https://holyyoga.net/resources/holy-yoga-101-information-packet/.

199 Ibid.

200 Ibid.

201 Susan Bordenkircher, Yoga for Christians: A Christ-Centered Approach to Physical and Spiritual

Health through Yoga (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2006), Kindle, 372.



247

a way to increase the amount of the Holy Spirit you possess, as she teaches one to “inhale the

Holy Spirit . . . inhale the freedom that comes only through Christ.”204

In general, Christianized yoga holds to the traditional yogic understanding of the breath

as energy and as the way through which the body and mind may be united. Though they typically

attempt to change the language and phraseology, this understanding remains the core of how

Christian Yoga attempts to accomplish spiritual growth. Additionally, it is important to note that

Christian Yoga’s doctrine on breath changes spiritual growth from being Christ-like in morality

and holiness to the experience of emotions about God and the heightened consciousness or

awareness of God’s presence inside a person.

Relationship and Connection to God is a Product of Human Effort

Fundamental to traditional yoga is the necessity of human effort to cultivate and maintain

a relationship with and connection to God. This is done through the induction of “transpersonal

states” that have the effect of “produc[ing] mystical experience[s] and spiritual (occult)

insight.”205 By utilizing proper body positions and breathing techniques one can “transcend the

mind” and “feel the cosmic force or God.”206 As one learns the postures, positions, and

breathing, one is able to progress further down the path of altered consciousness and will

continually experience ecstatic physiological and mental encounters with the supernatural. The

end goal of the “physical exercises of yoga” is “attaining godhood.”207 This is often described as

204 Bordenkircher, Yoga for Christians: A Christ-Centered Approach to Physical and Spiritual Health

through Yoga, Kindle, 419.

205 Benjamin B. Wolman and Montague Ullman, eds., Handbook of States of Consciousness (New York

City, NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1986), 113-114.



248

“self-realization” or “the union of man with the Absolute Reality” whereby one realizes that

“man’s true nature is divine.”208 Whether or not one is able to reach this state is entirely

dependent on one’s ability to probe the mysteries of yoga to their fullest extent. Additionally, the

guidance of a yogi is often highly recommended and, in some cases, necessary to fully

experience the spiritual benefits of yoga. For instance, one former yoga enthusiast reports that

sitting under the famous Yogi Swami Rama was necessary to be “initiated,” and “as he laid his

hands upon her head, the typical transfer of occult energy began” which looked like “currents of

electrical energy” flowing from her head though her body which she likened to being “touched

by God.”209 Thus, whether by oneself or through another, connection to and relationship with

God is fundamentally anthropocentric.

This remains the same for those who teach Christian Yoga. Often, Christian Yogis rely

heavily on the Christian mystics’ understanding of spiritual development to justify their

practices. For example, in his dissertation on the Christian use of yoga, Matus states that he sees

little difference between the “use of bodily attitudes and breath control” of Yoga and the “similar

practices in the Ignatian Exercises.”210 He also cites that Symeon the New Theologian’s

understanding of prayer resembles Tantric Yoga “in his emphasis on the contemplative’s

interiorization of liturgical rites.”211 Similarly, former Benedictine monk, Russill Paul,

disparages the way that Christian mystics, like Meister Eckhart who was “silenced as a heretic,”

208 Swami Rama, Lectures on Yoga: Practical Lessons on Yoga (Glenview, IL: Himalayan International

Institute of Yoga, Science and Philosophy, 1976), vi, 3,7.

209 John Ankerberg and John Weldon, The Coming Darkness (ATRI Publishing, 2011), Kindle, 250.

210 Thomas Matus, “The Christian Use of Yoga: A Theoretical Study Based on a Comparison of the

Mystical Experience of Symeon the New Theologian with Some Tantric Sources” (Dissertation, Fordham

University, 1977), 182.

211 Ibid, 187.

249

were rejected for embracing the Eastern view that God and Creation are one.212 He argues this

has prevented Christians from utilizing “the chakras and Yogic states of consciousness” in order

to develop the “advanced mystical experience within oneself.”213 Boon argues that these

advanced experiences can be achieved as one “dedicate[s] your practice to Him and Him alone”

resulting in her brand of “Holy Yoga becom[ing] your own unique way to worship God with all

of yourself through the ancient disciplines of bodily prayer.”214

As a counterpoint to Christian Yoga, Christian stretching programs recognize that

Christian Yoga involves an attempt to reach God through one’s own works. For instance,

WholyFit®, an alternative to Christian Yoga, asserts that in their program,

body position is not intended to affect the Holy Spirit. Believers cannot manipulate the

Holy Spirit and do not want to. Instead, we use body position, as dance does, to express

emotion and worship to God Almighty. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God who indwells

the bodies of believers in Jesus.215

The reality that yoga offers a way to God through human means is not mitigated by Christian

language; instead, it seems to be one of the main reasons Christians engage with Christian Yoga.

Given that Christian Yoga programs must include the aforementioned spiritual aspects, it is

impossible to see Christian Yoga as affirming the gospel. Instead, Christian Yoga promotes a

works-based approach to developing a relationship with God.

212 Russill Paul, Jesus in the Lotus: The Mystical Doorway Between Christianity and Yogic Spirituality

(Novato, CA: New World Library, 2009), 169.

213 Russill Paul, Jesus in the Lotus: The Mystical Doorway Between Christianity and Yogic Spirituality

(Novato, CA: New World Library, 2009), 169.


215 “Frequently Asked Questions,” WholyFit, n.d., accessed June 28, 2020, https://www.wholyfit.org/faq/.

250

Eight Arms of Yoga

In explaining Raja or Royal Yoga, Swami Satchidnanda breaks down all of yogic

philosophy into “eight limbs,” through which one must progress in order to receive the full

benefits of yoga.216 It is believed that these eight arms are express matters of “universal import,”

and are what make yoga “available to all.”217 Those who argue for Christian use of yoga indicate

that yoga “is not a religion per se,” and that the “plurality of practices, styles and modalities”

present in yogic philosophy are easily “individualized” to fit the needs of a particular

community.218 Though the language can differ substantially between different versions of yoga,

all of them contextualize the eight limbs in some way, as they are “equal” to each other and

“necessary” or the practice ceases to be yoga.219

Though one can engage in the limbs simultaneously, they are ordered in such a way as to

make mastery of each limb a precursor to being able to continue along the path. The first two

limbs govern external and internal morality. To satisfy “Yama” —the first limb—one must

refrain from causing others “pain,” tell the truth, refrain from stealing, exhibit sexual self-

restraint, and live in moderation.220 Yama also refers to the right and proper devotion to the gods,

or a commitment to understanding them and relating to them in the proscribed manner; thus, it is

an injunction to the yogic understanding of worship.221 The second limb, or “niyama,” governs


217 John N. Sheveland, “The Meaningfulness of Yoga to Christian Discipleship,” The Way 47, no. 3 (July

2008): 54.

218 Ibid.

219 Swami Satchidananda, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

220 Ibid, 2170.


251

internal morality. This includes the maintenance of ritual or physical “purity,” cultivating a state

of “contentment” which looks like mastery over physical desires, the study of “spiritual” books

for the purpose of understanding the “self” and “god,” and total worship and self-surrender unto

god.222 In terms of application and contextualization to other religions, these two limbs are often

compared to ethical codes like the Ten Commandments with the argument that they are similar

enough in their purpose.223 Brooke Boon reinvents these limbs through the understanding of

“self-discipline;” she relates the limbs to 1 Timothy 4:7, which reads, “train yourself in

godliness.”224

The third and fourth limbs of yoga are what most people traditionally think of when they

use the term “yoga.” The third limb or “Asana” refers to the meditation postures that one moves

through in a yoga session. These poses act as a “path of meditation” that facilitates

“connectedness, balance, [and] liberation.”225 It is also recognized in alignment with many

Americanized versions of yoga, that “postures alone, taught and practiced with the correct

context, intention, and container, can serve as both vehicle to and expression of awakening.”226

Hatha Yoga, the dominant form of Christian Yoga in America, was developed in part as an

emphasis on utilizing the postures to purify the body.227 All forms of yoga utilize postures and

222 Swami Satchidananda, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Kindle, 2187-.

223 Ibid, 2193.

224 Boon, Holy Yoga: Exercise for the Christian Body and Soul, Kindle, 327; 1 Timothy 4:7; It is interesting

to note that Boon did not quote the entire verse which reads: "But have nothing to do with irreverent and silly myths.

Rather, train yourself in godliness.”

225 Yoga Isn’t Only Physical Yogasana--But Here’s Why Postures Are an Important Part of the Practice,

Video (Yoga Journal, n.d.), https://www.yogajournal.com/videos/culture-practice-yama-why-you-need-asana.

226 Tosca Park, “Yoga Asana and Meditation: Mutually Exclusive?,” Yoga Basics, June 1, 2012, accessed

June 30, 2020, https://www.yogabasics.com/connect/yoga-asana-and-meditation-mutually-exclusive/.

227 Swami Satchidananda, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, 2611.

252

movements in some way, though American forms of yoga place much more emphasis on this

limb of yoga than traditional versions do. However, a 2012 New York Times article mentioned

how fitness forms of yoga introduce practitioners to meditation and that a shift back toward

meditation is taking place.228

“Asana” is always paired with “Pranayama,” or breath-control. Traditionally, this limb

was understood as “increasing the depth, intensity, quality and subtlety of the knowledge and the

database related to the Self” through control of the breath.229 Though “Pranayama” has a wide

range of definitions in modern understanding, most Yoga instructors use it to mean “inhalation,

exhalation and suspension of breath during the [practice] of yoga.”230 On the psycho-

physiological level, breath-control has the effect of bringing one into “different states of

consciousness/awareness” with relation to the self and god.231 Traditional Yoga and Hatha Yoga

in particular utilize the third and fourth arms in the “hope of awakening Kundalini, the potential

that is dormant in every individual.”232 Thus, the poses and breath-control practices cannot be

separated from what they were designed to do which is control of the nearly limitless energy

within the individual person. These arms of yoga form the core of all Christian versions of yoga,

as the physical benefits are the primary way in which it is sold to Christians. Though these

practices do have health benefits, their design cannot be unlinked from their place in the eight

228 Caren Osten Gerszberg, “Putting Meditation Back on the Mat,” The New York Times, April 20, 2012,

accessed June 30, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/nyregion/in-new-york-meditation-makes-its-way-

back-to-the-yoga-mat.html?_r=3.

229 Mukund V. Bhole, “Working with Yayus, Prana and Pranayama in Yoga,” Spiritual Studies 3, no. 2

(Fall 2017): 9.

230 Ibid, 10.

231 Ibid, 12.

232 Purnima M. Dave, “Kundalini in Hatha Yoga Pradipika,” Integrative Medicine International 3 (2016):

125.

253

limbs. Additionally, it is important to note that some Christian Yoga programs liken

“Pranayama” to “breathing in the Holy Spirit,” which is akin to representing the Holy Spirit as a

force that one controls through one’s breath.233

The fifth limb of yoga, “Pratyaharah,” can be considered one of the primary goals of

yoga. Through the first four limbs of yoga, one learns to control the mind in such a way that one

maintains full control of one’s actions and energy. The fifth limb details the ways in which a

person controls his or her senses. It is recognized that the senses act as profound motivators of

human action, and thus, this limb teaches practitioners how to ignore the senses and act free of

them, demonstrating mastery over them.234 In Christian Yoga, this is often related to one’s ability

to block out all other things so that one can focus on God alone. Christian Yoga instructor,

Bordenkircher, states that “moods and conditions” can be modified and quelled through proper

yoga practice.235

The final three limbs of yoga are concerned with the mental activities needed to attain

enlightenment. The sixth limb, called “dharana,” pertains to working on one’s ability to

concentrate the mind on a single thing.236 The primary way of learning yogic concentration is to

focus on a single thing and refocus on it every time the mind strays to a different topic.237 This







237 Ibid, Kindle, 2900. It is vital to understand that the sixth limb does not pertain to reflection on a topic

nor does it amount to concentrated focus in terms of in-depth study or singlemindedness in completing a task. The

method that one attains intense concentration in Yoga is called “gazing” or a detached form of thinking whereby one

simply exists with one’s thought or picture. Extraneous thought about the picture or reasoning about the symbol

254

process also involves treating the mind as a separate entity than oneself that can be directly

controlled by the conscious self.238 The seventh limb, “Dhyana,” is “deep contemplation from

occult meditation.”239 This results in “a mental state characterized by deep relaxation along with

attention directed inwards.”240 This second type of meditation is often referred to as

“Transcendental Meditation” and is “similar to sleep” in that “you don’t know you have a

body.”241 In this form of meditation, “you transcend the body” and have “beautiful visions”

including “beautiful light.”242 These phenomena are not imagined; they are real experiences that

“just happen” when people engage in yoga.243 Finally, the culmination of meditation results in

the achievement of the eighth limb, “samadhi.” The eighth limb is not something one can

“consciously practice” it is something that simply happens when all else is practiced

appropriately.244 This is the aspect of yoga that is focused on union. When one achieves a state of

“samadhi” the distinction between the person doing yoga and the object of meditation ceases to

exist.245 Thus, if one contemplates god in meditation through yoga, one eventually becomes god.

negates the purpose of gazing and of dharana. Thus, to attempt to engage in Christian concentration which involves

reasoning, active thinking, and focus is to engage in the opposite of dharana.



240 Shirley Telles et al., “A Selective Review of Dharana and Dhyana in Healthy Participants,” Journal of

Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine 7 (2016): 255.

241 Swami Satchidananda, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Kindle 2923.

242 Ibid.


244 Ibid.


255

Christian Yoga also fully integrates the final three limbs of traditional yoga. Typically,

Christian Yoga utilizes the sixth limb of yoga as a means for meditating on short portions of

Scripture. Christian Yoga specialist, Thomas Ryan, teaches that the method for contemplative

prayer used as meditation in yoga involves “simply learning to say your word from the beginning

to the end of the meditation.”246 He argues that you need to select a word like “maranatha” which

does not “have a lot of mental associations or images attached to it,” so that people can focus on

the word alone through meditation.247 He argues that this form of meditation allows one to

transcend into the seventh limb where “continuous repetition eventually unhooks our minds from

that amalgam of images, ideas, concepts, words and thoughts,” where one in an “act of faith”

“leave[s] oneself behind.”248 In justification, he argues that Augustine said we should “transcend

the self (ego) which is not God in order to encounter our real Self, ‘who is deeper than my

inmost being and higher than my greatest height’ yet who is in us and with us, but transcends us

in mystery.”249 Bordenkircher utilizes this form of meditation in her version of Christian Yoga,

with the intention of becoming filled with “the energy, strength, and joy that only comes from

Him.”250

Finally, some see the final arm of yoga in the Christian mystics’ experiences of union

with God. For example, St. Teresa de Avila recounts that “while seeking God in this way, the

246 Thomas Ryan, Prayer of Heart and Body: Meditation and Yoga as Christian Spiritual Practice

(Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1995), Kindle, 1021.

247 Ibid.


249 Ibid, Kindle, 1030; This quote is not cited in Ryan's book. An attempt to search for this quote in

Augustine did not turn up any citations. Ryan's interpretation of Augustine is highly suspect as he seems to be

affirming that Augustine believed the higher Self was God.



256

soul becomes conscious that it is fainting almost completely away, in a kind of swoon, with an

exceeding great and sweet delight. It gradually ceases to breathe, and all its bodily strength

begins to fail it.”251 Meditation researcher, Uhuru Hotep, argues that St. Theresa’s experience is a

prime example of the “mystic union” expressed in many religions, including the yogic

“samadhi.”252 Through this examination of Christian practitioners’ recontextualization of the

eight limbs of Yoga, it is clear that they have been unable to separate Hindu and New Age

theology from the practice. All of the Christian Yoga instructors assessed here focus on

equivocating the New Age or Hindu language with Christian terms in order to make it more

palatable to a Christian audience. Most concerning is the Christian Yoga interpretation of prana,

or the breath, which amounts to either a pseudo-spiritual force or a reduction of God to

something that people can control. Additionally, the meditative aspects of yoga are not reflective

of biblical meditation, which is focused on reflection on the meaning of Scripture. Instead,

Christian Yoga meditation is essentially Buddhist/Hindu meditation using words and phrases

found in the Bible. The intent is not to know Scripture better, but to cultivate a spiritual mindset

or higher consciousness. In conclusion, yogic philosophy is inseparable from yoga practice and

Christian Yoga can be nothing but syncretistic with New Age principles.

Physical and Psychological Consequences of Yoga

The positive physical, emotional, and spiritual benefits of yoga have extensive

documentation throughout a wide variety of sources and will be assumed to be valid. However,

yoga also has documented negative effects which will be detailed in this section. First, the yogis

251 Allison Peers, The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus: The Autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila (New York City,

NY: Doubleday, 1960), 178-179.

252 Uhuru Hotep, “Samadhi: The Highest Stage of Human Development--Implications for African

Societies,” The Journal of Pan African Studies 7, no. 7 (December 2014): 36.

257

themselves recognize that yoga, if practiced improperly, can lead to severe, permanent

disabilities and diseases. Shree Purohit Swami states that when people do not practice the limbs

of yoga properly and in their designated order, they suffer great injury. He reports that he found

“three hundred people who suffered permanently from wrong practices” across “India and

Europe.”253 Other yoga instructors report similar issues; for instance, Richard Kieninger reports

that he knew a woman who “upset her hormonal balance doing this yoga exercise, and it

produced a malfunction in her adrenal glands,” from which “she soon died.”254 Similarly, Swami

Rama argued that “advanced forms of patterned breathing . . . can cause a person to harm himself

irreparably.”255 A spiritual advisor to the United Nations, Sri Chinmoy, also affirmed that “to

practice pranayama . . . without any real guidance is very dangerous,” and that he knew “of three

persons who have died from it.”256 Hans Ulrich Rieker, in his book The Yoga of Light, affirms

these drastic consequences saying, “any misunderstanding in the practice of yoga can mean death

and insanity.”257 Of special concern are Gopi Krishna’s statements on Hatha Yoga, the most

common form found in America, which will be reprinted in full:

In Hatha Yoga the breathing exercises are more strenuous, attended by some abnormal

positions of the chin, the diaphragm, the tongue, and other parts of the body to prevent

expulsion or inhalation of air into the lungs in order to induce a state of suspended

breathing. This can have drastic effects on the nervous system and the brain, and it is

253 Bagwan Shree Patanjali, Aphorisms of Yoga, trans. Shree Purohit Swami (London, U.K.: Faber and

Faber, 1972), 56-57.

254 Richard Kieninger, The Spiritual Seekers’ Guidebook (Quinian, TX: The Stelle Group, 1986),71.

255 Ibid.

256 Sri Chinmoy, Great Masters and the Cosmic Gods (New York City, NY: Agni Press, 1977), 8.

257 Hans Ulrich Rieker, The Yoga of Light: Hatha Yoga Pradipika (New York City, NY: Seabury Press,

1971), 9.

258

obvious that such a discipline can be very dangerous. Even in India, only those prepared

to face death dare to undergo the extreme discipline of Hatha Yoga.258

Thus, even so-called neutral forms of yoga like the Hatha variety can come with deadly

consequences when practiced as a form of exercise.

Aside from death, there are also a number of other potential maladies that can arise as a

result of practicing yoga. Sir John Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon) recounts that yoga practice can

lead to “considerable pain, physical disorder, and even disease.”259 Ernest Wood corroborates the

maladies that yoga can produce saying that engagement with yoga puts one at “imminent risk of

most serious bodily disorder, disease, and even madness.”260 Among these diseases, he includes:

“cough, asthma, head, eye, and ear pains.”261

There are also a number of severe psychological issues that can arise when practicing any

form of yoga that are typically related to the accidental release of what is known as the Kundalini

force, which is “the mainstay of all yoga practices.”262 The Kundalini awakening occurs when,

through the use of yoga, one opens all seven of the chakra body portals and the Kundalini energy

dormant at the base of the spine rises up to the crown chakra, causing a wide variety of

supernatural phenomena.263 Gopi Krishna argues that many modern teachers of yoga are

woefully unaware that the awakening of Kundalini through yoga can “lead to awful mental

258 Gopi Krishna, “The True Aim of Yoga,” Psychic, February 1973, 13.

259 Arthur Avalon, The Serpent Power: The Secrets of Tantric and Shaktic Yoga (New York City, NY:

Dover Publications, 1974), 12.

260 Ernest Wood, Seven Schools of Yoga: An Introduction (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House,

1975), 14.

261 Ibid, 78.

262 Rieker, The Yoga of Light: Hatha Yoga Pradipika, 101.


259

states, to almost every form of mental disorder, from hardly noticeable aberrations to the most

horrible forms of insanity, to neurotic and paranoid states, to megalomania and, by causing

tormenting pressure on reproductive organs, to an all-consuming sexual thirst that is never

assuaged.”264 Swami Narayanananda also describes the potential phenomena, saying that the

Kundalini energy can “make the mind fickle, bring insomnia, brain disorder, insanity and

incurable disease . . . ruin[ing] the whole life of a person.” He also states that he has “seen many

become insane, many get brain defects, and many others get some incurable diseases after deep

sorrow.”265 In conclusion, no matter the form of yoga, it is impossible to fully and definitively

protect oneself from the physical and psychological dangers of yogic practice.

Attempts to Christianize Yoga

Holy Yoga®

Brooke Boon, Holy Yoga® creator, engaged with standard yoga practices prior to

becoming a Christian.266 After her salvation experience, she continued to find good in yoga, but

became uncomfortable with the Hindu philosophy surrounding it.267 In her book, she attempts to

redeem yoga through Christian theology. She admits that she is not a theologian nor a trained

seminarian and focuses on “weaving the Word into [her] personal yoga practice.”268 Her

264 Gopi Krishna, The Awakening of Kundalini (New York City, NY: E. P. Dutton, 1975), Kindle, 320.

265 John White, “Some Possibilities for Further Kundalini Research,” in Kundalini Evolution and

Enlightenment (Garden City, NY: Anchor/Doubleday, 1979), 356.

266 Brooke Boon, Holy Yoga: Exercise for the Christian Body and Soul (New York City, NY: Hachette

Book Group, 2007), Kindle, 68.



260

methodology is decidedly anthropocentric as she emphasizes how she “invite[s] God to be part

of this practice.”269

She opens her description of her yoga practice by stating that it is an entirely new type or

field of yoga: “holy yoga.” Boon takes her definition of holy from Webster’s dictionary, which

states that to be holy is to be “dedicated or devoted to the service of worship of God, the church,

or religion.”270 Thus, to make yoga holy is to take the movement forms and couple them in

worshipful practices that are focused on Jesus.271 She argues that yoga increases her “ability to

pray” and strengthens her “connection to Christ.”272

Her version of yoga is a combination of Hatha Yoga and Bhakti Yoga.273 Unlike other

Christian Yoga forms, Boon’s yoga fully embraces the fact that yoga is “designed to increase

spiritual growth.”274 She describes Holy Yoga as the “practice of bodily alignment, mindful

breathing, and purposeful reliance on God.”275 This experience brings Christians into a place

where they can be their “most authentic, real, whole selves,” because people need to put

themselves in a position “for [God] to work in and through us.”276 This is needed because the

269 Boon, Holy Yoga: Exercise for the Christian Body and Soul, Kindle, 75.

270 “Holy,” Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary (New York City, NY: Random House, 2001),

912.

271 Boon, Holy Yoga: Exercise for the Christian Body and Soul, Kindle 89.

272 Ibid, Kindle, 82, 89.




276 Ibid, Kindle, 190, 335.

261

root of humanity’s problem with connecting to God is that the “schisms between mind, body,

and spirit” are preventing people from “worship[ping] Him completely.”277

In order to justify the utilization of yoga in the Christian life, she makes two assertions.

First, she argues that the yoga positions are not Hindu. They were co-opted by Hinduism but

originated more than “five thousand years” ago, prior to “written history.”278 The website that

she uses to defend her position is no longer accessible, but there is a similar site from the same

organization arguing her points.279 She states that the yoga positions were passed down through

“collective experiences” for centuries, and that originally they did not have a religious

connotation.280 Along these lines, she argues that “no single religion or cult can claim to ‘own’

the ways we move our bodies and use them to worship our God.”281

One of the primary aspects of yoga that she deems potentially demonic is the use of

music with “low and heavy and dark” tones along with “ohm” repetition and “chanting.”282 She

personally felt uncomfortable with the continued use of these practices after becoming a

Christian. In her version of Holy Yoga®, she only utilizes music that is marked by “light, joy,

[and] peace.”283 She also admits that the music she uses in yoga classes is “designed to bring the


278 Ibid.

279 “Sources of Yoga,” American Yoga Association, January 23, 2012, accessed July 6, 2019,

http://www.americanyogaassociation.net/?page_id=93.





262

brain into an alpha state, a deeply relaxed and calm condition.”284 She argues that this allows

Christians to relinquish “control” and become “dependent on Him.”285

There are a number of issues with Boon’s “Holy Yoga®” that stem from the core of her

theological convictions. First, her defense of the human origin of yoga as opposed to the Hindu

origin of yoga is severely anemic. Though her sole source is no longer available, the American

Yoga Association firmly asserts that yoga philosophy and Hinduism are deeply connected.286

The association even affirms a Hindu worldview in its explanation of the origins of yoga.

Additionally, Professor Subhas Tiwari of Hindu University of America asserts that the

fundamental principles of yoga are Hindu in origin, and to remove Hinduism from yoga “runs

counter to the fundamental principles upon which yoga itself is premised.”287 He argues that

yoga is “an instrument which can lead one to apprehend the Absolute, Ultimate Reality, called

the Brahman Reality or God.”288

Second, Boon recognizes that the Hindu understanding of unity is different than the

Christian understanding of unity but fails to demonstrate how practices designed for pantheistic

unity can be utilized for generating biblical unity. Boon states that by changing one’s perspective

from unifying “body, mind, and spirit” to unifying “body, mind, and His Holy Spirit that dwells

within us,” the yoga practices will shift what they accomplish.289 However, there are several



286 “Sources of Yoga.”

287 Subhas Tiwari, “Yoga Renamed Is Still Hindu,” Hinduism Today, n.d., accessed July 6, 2019,

https://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=1456.

288 Subhas Tiwari, “Yoga Renamed Is Still Hindu.”

289 Boon, Holy Yoga: Exercise for the Christian Body and Soul, Kindle 178.

263

reasons to reject her understanding. One, Hatha yoga works by corralling “two sets of currents

and, by making them unite, to still both body and mind.”290 This “energy is pushed down to the

base of the spine” where it is stored until the yoga poses release it upon which “spiritual life

[becomes] all at once much easier.”291 This procedure is thoroughly Hindu/pantheistic and is not

an authorized means by which one may commune with God. Hatha Yoga is focused on

“liberation” of the body so that the “Kundalini-power… can ‘regain its lost empire’ and

gradually rid itself of ‘the human condition’ and achieve divinity.”292 The practice itself is what

accomplishes this task, not the mental beliefs behind it. Additionally, by incorporating Bhakti

Yoga into her philosophy, she buys into the false teaching that “attachment to material things” is

one of the reasons people are unable to properly connect with God and yoga helps one focus on

God and not the world.293

Third, there is strong reason to suspect that people who practice yoga are opening

themselves up to “demonic power regardless of whether [they] want it or not.”294 For example,

yoga instructor, Nora Isaacs, readily admits that practicing yoga can lead to “a psychotic break,

where practitioners go through altered sleep cycles, changes in identity, or depression.”295

Additionally, other sources report that yoga can cause “pressure in the head, visions, whole-body

sexual stimulation, pains in back and neck, intense feelings [in the] head, and involuntary jerks


291 Ibid, 73.

292 Ibid, 73.

293 Ibid, 74.



295 Nora Isaacs, “Is a Kundalini Awakening Safe?,” Yoga Journal, April 6, 2017, accessed July 6, 2019,

https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/safe-awaken-snake.

264

and movements.”296 Thus, the practice of yoga is not easily separated from what it was designed

to accomplish in the spiritual realm.

Christ Centered Yoga®

Christ Centered Yoga® was founded by Becky Martin in 2002. At the time of this

writing, both of her websites, www.becky-martin.com and www.christcenteredyoga.com are not

in operation. Additionally, she does not have any published books describing her philosophy of

Christian Yoga. However, she regularly conducts yoga services on Facebook. The following

section will assess her philosophy and methods from these services.

The key distinctives of Christ Centered Yoga® are Martin’s use of Scripture and guided

prayer that emphasizes the Christian God. She does not make any attempt to Christianize the

language of yoga, nor does she change the philosophical, metaphysical underpinnings of yoga.

Linguistically, she uses the traditional yoga names for the poses, including “cat pose” and “cow

pose.” One of the major metaphysical examples concerns Martin’s understanding of

“Pranayama,” which is fundamentally yogic in nature. Her understanding of “breath” is not air,

nor is it one’s soul or spirit, in reference to Genesis 1-2. Rather, she affirms that the “breath lives

inside of us.”297 During her yoga instruction, Martin tells her followers to “focus on God and His

breath inside of you.”298 She then goes on to emphasize that God’s “breath is a tool.” Martin’s



297 Becky Martin, Sharing Christ Centered Yoga with Senior High Students in Chapel, Video (Greater

Atlanta Christian School, 2017), accessed July 1, 2020,

https://www.facebook.com/107856375922350/videos/1404642892910352/?__so__=channel_tab&__rv__=all_video

s_card.

298 Ibid.

265

understanding of “breath” is the yogic understanding of “Prana.”299 The breath is not equivalent

to the self, nor is it equivalent to God; instead, it is an impersonal force that one can control to

manipulate the physical, mental, and spiritual realms. She affirms that the “breath” is something

that is a part of God that exists inside all people, and all people can use it to accomplish personal

growth. Against Martin’s understanding, evangelical commentator, Mathews, argues God’s

breath is a “metonymy,” or a substitute term for “life;” thus, “to possess the ‘breath of life,’ or

‘breath,’ is to be alive.”300 The biblical view does not posit an aspect of God that resides in

humanity for them to control; instead, the Bible teaches that breath is synonymous with living as

found in Job: “as long as my breath is still in me and the breath from God remains in my

nostrils.”301

By maintaining that the “breath inside of us is His,” Martin has unknowingly affirmed

several unorthodox theological standpoints.302 First, her view comes perilously close to a

panentheistic view, whereby God resides in each human being in a spiritual sense. For example,

in her affirmation to focus on “God and His breath,” she brings the two together through

meditation that lends itself to worshipping both God and His breath. The worship of God and His

Spirit would be acceptable as it can be formulated in a Trinitarian framework, but focusing on

God and His breath in us is neither scriptural nor theologically orthodox. Second, by speaking of

God’s breath as residing in each person she seems to deny the simplicity of God. If God can

299 Martin, Sharing Christ Centered Yoga with Senior High Students in Chapel.

300 Mathews, Genesis 1-11:26, vol. 1A, Kindle, 4483.

301 Job 27:3.


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manifest part of Himself in a completely spatial-temporal sense that is fundamentally apart from

Himself, then He is a composite being which is a denial of classical theism.

Related to this is a third theological problem which is the idea that God resides in

everyone as a cosmic force, can help everyone, yet has not regenerated everyone. There is

nothing stopping someone from using Martin’s yoga method to achieve the same healing results,

and yet, never acknowledge Christ. If the breath inside of a person is truly a tool, then the

addition of Scripture and prayer to the mix is superfluous, or at best, additive to the healing

power that innately resides in each person.

Fourth, her understanding of yoga and its application to mental health detracts from the

gospel message and the atonement, as it presents a works-based approach to healing and

salvation. She argues that the point of her yoga is to “relax the body, mind, and spirit” through

the use of “asanas,” or postures, slow tempo music, meditation, and breath-control.303 The poses

manifest in the physical realm what Scripture is saying spiritually. If these are done properly,

they result in the “body responding to its creator” and benefits such as lowered blood pressure

will automatically result.304

She also describes the spiritual benefits by saying that as one focuses on God through

meditation one is able to “breathe in His goodness, glory, and grace” as well as “relinquish your

need to know . . . and your desire to control.”305 This thinking turns real goodness, glory, and

grace into abstract concepts detached from any real meaning. If one can simply breathe in


304 Ibid.

305 Ibid.

267

goodness, what need is there to actually exhibit or receive goodness relationally? Similarly, if

God’s glory can be breathed in, what does it mean to reflect His glory or is there anything truly

magnificent about His glory being seen in person? In terms of negative emotions, Martin holds to

this stance, indicating that they can be focused on and exhaled. For instance, she guides students

to “move our thoughts from our heads to our hearts” in order to utilize the “mind’s eye” to

visualize Christ as an empty vessel that was ready to receive all of the negative things about us

that we are willing to give Him.306 Rather than spiritual healing being a work of the Holy Spirit,

it is a work of mankind and based on one’s ability to isolate the negative aspects of oneself and

then drown them in the infinity empty well that is Jesus. Overall, Christ Centered Yoga® is a

near carbon copy of traditional yoga with a few Bible verses and prayer points sprinkled

throughout.

Yahweh Yoga®

Yahweh Yoga® was founded by the “enthusiastic and caring mother-daughter team

DeAnna Smothers and Courtney Chalfant” in 2005.307 Smothers has been a yoga practitioner for

over thirty years and has developed her version of yoga to foster a “sense of well-being” that

comes from making better “lifestyle choices.”308 Their version of yoga, called Yahweh Yoga®, is

“similar to Bikrim; Anusara; Ashtanga style yoga.”309 Ashtanga Yoga incorporates all eight of

the limbs of yoga and is often called Raja Yoga. It is the most traditional type of yoga and the


307 Deanna Smothers and Courtney Chalfant, “Meet the Co-Founders,” Yahweh Yoga: Get Centered with

Christ, n.d., accessed July 2, 2020, https://www.yahwehyoga.com/about/about-yahweh-yoga/.

308 Ibid.

309 Smothers and Chalfant, “About Yahweh Yoga.” In the book on Yahweh Yoga, the author Jennifer Zach

states that their form of Yoga is Hatha Yoga, which is in conflict with the official website.

268

one that retains the most Hindu or yogic philosophy. They state that Yahweh Yoga® is “for those

interested in living a lifetime of ‘Whole Health . . .’ Emotional, Physical, and Spiritual . . . and

desire to share this lifestyle with others . . . regardless of personal religious beliefs.” 310 They

train people who are both non-Christians and Christians and affirm that everyone has

“experienced a profound spiritual awakening or strengthening while in training.” 311

Jennifer Zach, a writer for Yahweh Yoga®, argues that yoga’s use by Christians is

defensible for three reasons. First, she argues that yoga postures have been found that date back

to “3,000 to 5,000 B.C.;” thus, they predate the earliest extant Vedantic Scriptures, which come

from “1,500 years” ago.312 Second, she states that “it is overwhelmingly stated throughout yoga

literature that yoga is not a religion,” thus “may be practiced within or without the context of any

faith.”313 Third, she asserts as a presupposition that “God is the origin of all truth and beauty and

that things that are true can be redeemed and consecrated for His glory.”314 In defense of this last

point, she states that yoga is covered in 1 Timothy 4:4-5 as part of “everything God created is

good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.”315 Fourth, Zach makes a

hard distinction between the body postures and any potential religious or spiritual impact that

they may have, asserting “that there is nothing inherently spiritual (good or evil) about a leg bend

310 Smothers and Chalfant, “About Yahweh Yoga.”

311 Ibid.

312 Jennifer Zach, Deanna Smothers, and Courtney Chalfant, Christian Yoga: Restoration for Both and

Soul: An Illustrated Guide to Self-Care (Phoenix, AZ: Yahweh Yoga, 2007), 14. This may be a mistake on the part

of the author. Her language seems to indicate that the Vedic Scriptures date to 500 A.D.; however, most sources date

them to 1500 B.C.

313 Ibid.

314 Ibid.

315 Ibid.

269

or downward dog.”316 She also acknowledges that “some methods of breath control seek to

liberate the soul from the constraints of the body,” and that this “idea is fundamentally

incompatible with the Christian worldview.”317

Unfortunately, there are many problems with her argument in support of the

contextualization of yoga for Christian use. First, Zach asserts that Hinduism and yoga are not

inextricably linked, yoga predates Hinduism by thousands of years, and most yoga literature

argues for the differentiation between yoga and Hinduism. The Hindu American Foundation

recognizes the trend in publications by Yoga Journal and in a letter of redress affirmed Hinduism

as a “5000”-year-old religion with “one of its greatest contributions” being yoga.318 Thus, unlike

Zach’s assertion, yoga practitioners are not in unanimous agreement on this issue. Furthermore,

her use of 1 Timothy 4:4-5 is highly problematic. In 1 Timothy 4:1-5, Paul is arguing against

teachers who forbid “people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods which God

created to be received with thanksgiving.”319 Paul then goes on to say that “everything God

created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.”320 The Bible is

clear that God created all physical things and that God created the institution of marriage, thus

Paul’s argument holds water in that things created by God cannot be inherently evil.321 However,

Zach argues that God also created yoga as He created the human body that could put itself into

316 Zach, et. al., Christian Yoga: Restoration for Both and Soul, 15.

317 Ibid.

318 Suhag Shukla, “Is Hindu a Bad Word?,” n.d., accessed July 4, 2020,

https://www.hinduamerican.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/YogaJournalLetter.pdf.

319 Thomas Lea and Hayne Griffin, 1, 2, Timothy, Titus: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy

Scripture, vol. 34, The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 1992), 115.

320 Ibid, 116.

321 Ibid.

270

yoga postures. This is categorically false. Yoga was not created by God, nor is it found as part of

divine revelation in Scripture. Rather, yoga, in both posture and philosophy, is fundamentally a

human construction and not governed by these verses.

Zach also attempts to address concerns of syncretism in Yahweh Yoga® and makes the

following rebuttals. As justification for the utilization of yogic methods, Zach states that “intent

and purpose are key,” and quotes Tilden Edwards, saying, “What makes a particular practice

Christian is not its source, but its intent. If our intent in assuming a particular bodily practice is to

deepen our awareness in Christ, then it is Christian. If this is not our intent in any spiritual

practice, then even the reading of Scripture loses its Christian authenticity.”322 Zach also

addresses syncretism by saying that the truths of the Hindu versions of yoga can often match

biblical teaching. For instance, she states that the first two steps of Patanjali’s eight-fold path

resemble the teachings of the Ten Commandments and are thus fine to follow. However, when

addressing the eighth limb, Samadhi, she states that it is fundamentally counter to the biblical

teaching of grace through faith.

In contrast to Hindu leaders, Zach is trying to separate what is known as “asana” from

the rest of yoga, yoga philosophy, and the other limbs. This is known as the “commercialization

of yoga” through an attempt to reduce it to a “mere exercise.”323 If this can actually be done, and

there are significant indications that it cannot, the activity one is doing is no longer yoga. The

purpose of “asana” postures is not for physical benefit, even though physical benefits do occur;

rather, yoga specialist, Iyengar, states that “asanas” are designed “for conquering the elements,

322 Lea and Griffin, 1, 2, Timothy, Titus, 18; Nancy Roth and Tilden Edwards, An Invitation to Christian

Yoga (New York City, NY: Seabury Books, 2005), xii.

323 “The Hindu Roots of Yoga: And the Take Back Yoga Campaign,” Hindu American Foundation, n.d.,

accessed July 4, 2020, https://www.hinduamerican.org/projects/hindu-roots-of-yoga.

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energy, and so on . . . to balance the energy in the body . . . to control the five elements . . . how

to balance the various aspect of the mind without mixing them all together, and how to be able to

perceive the difference between the gunas, and to experience that there is something behind

them, operating in the world of man—that is what asanas are for.”324 Similarly, yogi, K. Pattabhi

Jois, argues that doing yoga “for physical practice is no good [and] of no use.”325 Rather, he

argues that the true purpose of yoga is spiritual, and that “when the nervous system is purified,

when your mind rests in the atman [the Self], then you can experience the true greatness of

yoga.”326 Thus, the issue that defines yoga as a practice is not, as Zach asserts, purpose and

intention. Instead, yoga, by definition, is the combination of all the aspects of the eight limbs of

yoga to achieve a spiritual goal. Because the practices themselves bring about the stated spiritual

goal, to separate them out and attempt to divorce them from each other results in the destruction

of the yoga practice.

It seems that Zach and the creators of Yahweh Yoga® do indeed recognize this, as the

creators describe Yahweh Yoga® as being closely related to Ashtanga Yoga which utilizes all

eight limbs. The dangers of this are evident in their depiction of the “prana” or breath. They

state that “we hunger and thirst for God, we breathe him too.”327 They then use an eisegetical

translation of Psalm 34:2 to justify that “I live and breathe God.”328 In no other form of their

324 B.K.S. Iyengar and K. Pattabhi Jois, “Conversation,” trans. Sunaad Raghuram, Namarupa, Fall 2005. A

guna is equivalent to an attribute of reality that effect the psychological and spiritual realm.

325 Ibid.

326 Ibid.

327 Zach, Smothers, and Chalfant, Christian Yoga: Restoration for Both and Soul: An Illustrated Guide to

Self-Care, 54.

328 Psalm 34:2 (The Message); Hebrew for comparison חו׃ ים וישמ ו י ישמע ו ענ ל נפש יהו ה תתהל HCSB for ב

comparison: I will boast in the Lord; the humble will hear and be glad.

272

materials do they ever attempt to separate out the exercise portions of yoga from the rest of yoga.

Rather, they make every effort to reinterpret traditional yoga teachings with a Christian veneer,

despite their assertion to the contrary. In conclusion, Yahweh Yoga® is virtually

indistinguishable from Hindi Yoga and only attempts to dress yoga up as Christian through Bible

verses and focus on the Christian God.

Outstretched in Worship®

Susan Bordenkircher was a fitness instructor for 10 years at her local YMCA when she

was tasked with attending a yoga training program.329 As a result of her study, she eventually

developed her own Christ-Centered yoga program, called “Outstretched in Worship®.” In her

book on her version of yoga, she asks two fundamental questions, one of which is the key to

understanding her yoga: “Will this Eastern practice compromise my beliefs?”330 While it is not

clear what her beliefs were to begin with, her understanding of yoga breaks orthodox belief on a

number of doctrines.

The first issue with Bordenkircher’s yoga is that it holds that a healthy body is essential

to Christianity. For example, she attempts to correct Christian thinking saying that “those who

choose not to adequately care for their bodies soon become enslaved by them.”331 She even goes

so far as to say that one is unable to “share the love of Jesus, the peace of God, and the freedom

you have through salvation if all you feel is uncomfortable and cranky.”332 In Bordenkircher’s






273

theology, the healthy body is directly linked to one’s ability to experience and “exhibit freedom

in Christ,” and if the body is “out-of-tune” one completely lacks true freedom.333 She rebukes

any Christian who is not physically healthy as presenting a poor representation of “Jesus to the

world” and sending a message of “brokenness” and not one of “healing.”334 For these reasons she

asserts that “God will bless your efforts at exercise when you practice from a perspective of

healing.”335

Bordenkircher is correct in her assertion that the body is good, as the Bible does not

teach “any sharp antithesis between spirit (or mind) and body,” and the Bible’s view of the body

affirms it is “God’s good creation.”336 However, she is gravely mistaken in linking the body to

freedom in Christ, one’s ability to be a witness for Christ, and the body as a potential tool of

enslavement. For example, in 2 Corinthians, Paul actively boasts in his physical sufferings which

involved being “near death” many times.337 He also talked about how he had “many sleepless

nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and lacking clothing.”338 None of these things

seemed to impact his Christian witness. Instead Paul reports that he would “gladly boast all the

more about my weakness, so that Christ’s power might reside in me . . . so I take pleasure in my

weakness, insults, catastrophes, persecutions, and in pressures, because of Christ . . . for when I



334 Ibid.

335 Ibid.




274

am weak, then I am strong.”339 Under Bordenkircher’s theology, Paul could be nothing other

than a horrible evangelist, as he clearly did not care for his body since he routinely put himself

into physically damaging situations. Additionally, Paul had every reason to feel uncomfortable

and cranky, yet was one of the greatest evangelists in Christian history. Paul’s broken body was a

message for healing, but not in the way Bordenkircher imagines. Paul’s physical brokenness was

an identification with Christ’s suffering on the cross, and a direct result of Jesus’ statement, “I

will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”340 Finally, her assertion that exercise will

be blessed because the focus is on healing opens the door to the use of virtually any pagan

practice as long as one intends it for good.

Second, Bordenkircher, like most other major Christian Yoga practitioners, does not

utilize yoga solely for physical benefits. Rather, she argues that “when practiced with Christ-

centered intention, [yoga] could provide spiritual benefits for the Christian.”341 In her book, she

heavily emphasizes the idea that “there is no practice like yoga for integrating the mind and body

in unity.”342 In fact, in her affirmation of the spiritual benefits the physical aspects of yoga often

disappear. She argues that “for a Christian, yoga becomes meditation in motion, preparing your

heart and body to work together as tools for worship.”343

The fundamental problem with this view of worship is that it completely misses the point

of worship. In her view, worship is reduced to a physical state of peace where one holds the ideas


340 Acts 9:16.



342 Ibid.


275

or concepts about God in one’s mind. However, true worship, as detailed in the sections on

authentic worship, is rightly responding to the revelation that God has given with adoration,

reverence, praise, thanksgiving, and obedience. Her understanding of worship is essentially a

psychophysical feeling that is devoid of moral content. Biblical worship on the other hand is

worship precisely because of its moral content.

To defend her use of Christian Yoga, she argues that Christians should “keep in mind that

it was God who created the breathing process, oxygen, muscles, movement, and our body’s

natural relaxation process.”344 She then links the practice of yoga to a “deeper level of

concentration” through which one can achieve “contentment and understanding . . . [that]

ultimately leads us to the connection with our Divine Maker.”345 She also quotes Agnieszka

Tennant, who articulated the following argument for yoga: “worship is a conscious act of the

mind. If it’s busy overflowing with gratitude to Christ for the way He made my body, I simply

don’t have the mental space to give up to an idol. Second, can a non-existent idol snatch me

away from Father God who has adopted me as His child? No chance.”346

The problem with Bordenkircher’s defense of Christian Yoga is that it conflates God’s

creation of the physical/spiritual universe with how things are used in that universe. Yes, God

created the general breathing process, but He did not create the specific breathing patterns used

in yoga. Yes, God did create muscles, the ability to move, and oxygen, but He did not create the

specific movement patterns found in yoga practice. People created yoga, its breathing patterns,




346 Agnieszka Tennant, “Yes to Yoga,” Christianity Today, May 19, 2005, accessed July 5, 2020,

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/mayweb-only/42.0b.html.

276

and its movement cycles. The question, then, is whether those patterns cause anything to happen

in the human being that is against God’s created order, or whether those patterns constitute

inappropriate or inauthentic worship. Her affirmation that “contentment and understanding” lead

to “connection with our Divine Maker” seems to indicate that the type of worship she is offering

is indeed inauthentic and lacking content. Connection to God comes through faith by grace as

one confesses Jesus Christ as one’s Lord and Savior. Jesus’ death on the cross and His atonement

for sin is the means by which one is brought close to God. In Bordenkircher’s theology, Christian

Yoga comes perilously close to becoming a means of salvation.

Third, Bordenkircher emphasizes unorthodox views on mankind’s breath. As

demonstrated earlier, God’s breath in mankind is not literally God’s wind in our lungs; it is a

metonymy for life. However, Bordenkircher asserts that “God’s presence is in your breath,” and

that “breath is what connects your mind to your body.”347 Though she most likely denies

panentheism, her view on the breath seems to indicate that God’s Spirit resides at the core of

every human being. Additionally, she also replaces relational engagement with the Holy Spirit

with sensory engagement. For example, Bordenkircher states that, “your breath . . . is also your

gateway to actually feeling the Holy Spirit moving and working within you.”348 Additionally, she

links the primary means of experiencing God’s presence to the breath; she affirms “as a Christian

God’s presence is only as far away as your breath.”349 Similarly, Bordenkircher teaches that,

“your breath can become your tangible, physical opportunity to wake up to God’s presence.”350


through Yoga, Kindle, 372, 388.


349 Ibid.


277

She also talks about the Holy Spirit in ways that depersonalize Him or present Him as a mystical

force. For example, she encourages yoga practitioners to “inhale the Holy Spirit . . . exhale

everything that is not of God . . . inhale the power that comes from God . . . exhale all that saps

your strength . . . inhale the freedom that comes only through Christ . . . exhale and enjoy!”351

Fourth, she denies the proper use and sufficiency of Scripture, seeing it as a means to

prepare oneself for the mystical encounter. In direct disobedience to Matthew 6:7—"When you

pray, don’t babble like the idolaters” —Bordenkircher argues for a monastic use of Scripture in

which “repetition” is the “key.”352 Rather than affirming that we “having died to sins, we might

live for righteousness,” Bordenkircher sees sanctification as the result of meditation in which

“repetition . . . leaves you empty of self and open to the Spirit.”353 Rather than using Scripture

“for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness,” Bordenkircher states

that the “use of Scripture is simply an avenue to get you focused for your encounter with God;

scriptures that you focus on shouldn’t necessarily challenge you, but soothe and quiet your

spirit.”354 Her brand of yoga has the potential to radically shift people’s understanding of the

Bible and spiritual growth, so the Bible no longer has authority and power over a person’s life,

and spiritual growth is reduced to a works based attempt to cultivate an emotional response.




353 Ibid, Kindle, 484; 1 Peter 2:24.

354 Ibid, Kindle, 476; 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

278

Christian Alternatives to Yoga

WholyFit®

Laura Monica founded WholyFit® in 1981 as a wholistic “fitness system” that

emphasizes proper stretching techniques in order to promote physical health.355 Near the

beginning of her fitness journey, Laura engaged in yoga practice and attended a yoga

certification course through one of the largest yoga organizations, Yoga Alliance.356 Though she

was told yoga was not syncretistic with Hinduism, she found herself being “urged to worship

Shiva with the class members” in a “dishonest and clandestine way.”357 Upon researching yoga

further, she became convinced that yoga and Christianity are fundamentally incompatible, which

bolstered her into finishing her stretching program as an alternative to Christian Yoga.

There are a number of key distinctives that set her program apart from Christian Yoga.

First, on the WholyFit® website, there is extensive discussion about the fact that Christian Yoga

is irrecoverably and extensively syncretistic with Hinduism. She acknowledges the issues with

the yogic understanding of the breath and how that is linked to the promotion of physiological

spiritual encounters. She also corrects syncretistic attempts to incorporate the Holy Spirit into the

breath, saying, “body position is not intended to affect the Holy Spirit . . . believers cannot

manipulate the Holy Spirit and do not want to.”358 She rightly affirms the indwelling of the Holy

Spirit and His permanence in the life of the believer.359 In terms of meditation, she wholly rejects

355 Laura Monica, “Laura Monica,” WholyFit, n.d., accessed July 6, 2020,

https://www.wholyfit.org/about/laura-monica-testimony/.

356 Ibid.

357 Ibid.

358 “Frequently Asked Questions.”

359 Ibid.

279

the yogic understanding and affirms that Bible study is a key component of the biblical depiction

of meditation.

In terms of the actual physical practice of yoga, she affirms that her stretch poses are not

based on yogic poses, rather they “have been engineered from the ground up, solely for specific

fitness purposes taking into account anatomical differences, with biomechanics known as safe

according to American College of Sports Medicine, ACE, AFAA and IDEA criteria.”360 This is

one of the most pivotal contrasts to yoga because yogic postures were developed explicitly to

have spiritual effects. She does admit that some of the poses may resemble yogic poses, but it is

“done inadvertently” due to the overlap of the use of the physical body.361 In terms of

spirituality, WholyFit® completely separates the spiritual aspects from the physical aspects.

Exercise and stretching are kept in the realm of physical care for the body. Scripture and prayer

are the only sources of spirituality and engagement with God.

Overall, WholyFit® is a program and organization that stands against the rampant

syncretism that is infiltrating the church through Christian Yoga. It effectively points out many

of the central issues with Christian Yoga, and then demonstrates how one can engage in

stretching and fitness without having to borrow from a religiously motivated and spiritually

corrupt practice.

PraiseMoves®

Laurette Willis founded PraiseMoves® in 2001. When she was seven years old, she and

her mother began engaging with yoga on a regular basis until she was 29 years old, at which

360 "Frequently Asked Questions.”

361 Ibid.

280

point she accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior.362 Willis’ version of a Christian alternative to

yoga also heavily emphasizes the serious issues with Christians associating with yoga in any

way. Like Laura Monica, she also mentions yoga’s spiritual emphasis and the inability to

separate Hinduism from yoga. However, she also hits on yoga’s redirection of all who practice it

away from seeing faith as the primary means to interact with God, toward using feelings to

interact and measure one’s relationship with God.363 She also decries yoga’s emphasis on the

breath as the “manipulation of ‘life force energy,’ through pranayama breathing during

exercises.”364 Finally, she remarks that those who engage in yoga are heavily “impressionable”

due to the meditative aspects of yoga, and yoga is the “missionary arm to Hinduism and the New

Age Movement.”365

As she designed her stretching program, Willis held to a number of principles that forced

her to break any potential link of her program with yoga. First, she recreated the stretch postures

from scratch, using Scripture as her inspiration. She also refused to incorporate “poses and

gestures . . . because of their appearance and close association with other religions.”366 Second,

she refused to incorporate any of the traditional symbols of yoga into her program, such as the

use of “Namaste” for its pantheistic/panentheistic connotations and the “mudra” praying

362 Laurette Willis, “About Us,” PraiseMoves, n.d., accessed July 6, 2020, http://praisemoves.com/about-

us/.

363 Laurette Willis, “12 Reasons Why Yoga Is Not Good for Christians,” PraiseMoves, n.d., accessed July

6, 2020, https://praisemoves.com/about-praisemoves/why-a-christian-alternative-to-yoga/12-reasons-why-yoga-is-

not-good-for-christians/.

364 Ibid.

365 Julie Royce, “Should Christians Pratice Yoga?,” Up For Debate, n.d., accessed July 6, 2020,

https://moodyaudio.com/products/should-christians-practice-yoga-0.

366 Laurette Willis, “Some PraiseMoves Postures Look Like Yoga?,” PraiseMoves, n.d., accessed July 6,

2020, https://praisemoves.com/about-praisemoves/why-a-christian-alternative-to-yoga/praisemoves-postures-look-

like-yoga/.

281

gesture.367 Third, she argues that the foundation of PraiseMoves® is not spirituality nor exercise,

but the Word of God itself; thus, in the development of her postures, she emphasizes scriptural

memorization and Biblical meditation.368 As a result of these principles, PraiseMoves®, like

WholyFit®, is a good example of an alternative stretching and exercise program that can help

people with their physical health without opening the door to New Age spirituality.

Assessment Criteria

Revelation

Table 4.9. Revelation Criteria and Yoga


New Age (Red)

Unique

Heterodoxy

(Yellow)

Orthodoxy

(Green)

Gray (Not

Applicable)

Criterion

Number

Criterion Description Christian

Teaching

New Age

Movement

Teaching

Christian

Yoga

1 Form of authoritative

revelation

Propositional

revelation

(Scripture)

New

consciousness

(spiritual

enlightenment)

Esoteric

knowledge

of ancient

yogis;

mystical

union

367 Willis, “12 Reasons Why Yoga Is Not Good for Christians.”

368 Royce, “Should Christians Pratice Yoga?”

282

2 God’s ability to

speak

God can speak

authoritatively

through prophesy

and Scripture to

mankind

God is impersonal

and cannot speak

with mankind;

mankind becomes

aware of divine

essence

God speaks

through

scripture

and through

mankind’s

ability to

connect to

the breath

3 Changeability of

God’s speech

God’s written

word cannot

change

People’s

consciousness and

knowledge of god

is always

changing

God’s

written word

cannot

change


servants; demons

are evil angels

who are in

rebellion against

God

Spirits are

generally good

and in their own

process of

evolution

N/A


God; they are not

to be contacted by

humans

Spirits are to be

contacted directly

by people

N/A

283

6 Spiritual beings:

work

Angels protect

people and deliver

God’s messages to

people; demons

physically harm

people, attempt to

thwart the gospel,

and teach false

doctrine

Spiritual beings

assist people in

attaining

consciousness of

their divinity,

teach new

doctrine, and

show humans how

to manipulate the

physical world

N/A

7 Sufficiency of

revelation

Scripture is

sufficient for the

knowledge of God

and God’s

redemptive plan

for humanity

Further revelation

through prophesy

or channeling is

required to attain

divine

consciousness

Further

revelation is

necessary

through

Yogis

8 View of truth Absolute truth

exists and is

knowable because

God’s view of

reality is complete

and authoritative;

He communicated

Absolute truth

does not exist

because the

universal mind in

impersonal and

does not have a

perspective of its

Absolute

truth does

exist, but

God’s word

is not

sufficient

284

truth to humanity

through His word

own; thus, each

individual

person’s

perspective,

though relativistic,

is authoritative for

him or herself

nor

complete

9 Word of God The Bible is

identical to the

word of God and

thus is true and

authoritative

Man’s words are

divine words and

thus create reality

The Bible is

the Word of

God, but

through

meditation

mankind can

create its

own reality


prophetic

commission was

given by Jesus to

specific

individuals to

write the

Awareness of

one’s Christ

consciousness

gives individuals

the authority and

power to speak

what they want

into being

Awareness

of union

with God

and self is

the ultimate

authority.

Anything

that brings

285

derivative word of

God

this about is

good

11 Power of human

words and thought

Human words

have no inherent

supernatural

power

Human words

have the

supernatural

power to create,

heal, and destroy

Human

meditation

and control

of the breath

have the

power to

create, heal,

and unify

God and Creation

Table 4.10. God and Creation Criteria and Yoga


New Age (Red)

Unique

Heterodoxy

(Yellow)

Orthodoxy

(Green)

Gray (Not

Applicable)

Criterion

Number


Teaching

New Age

Movement

Teaching

Christian

Yoga

1 Ontological

Creator/Creation

Relationship

Creator and

Creation are

ontologically

distinct

Creator and

Creation are either

ontologically

identical, on a

Panentheism:

God’s breath

resides in a

person, is not

286

continuum, or

mixed in some

way

the person,

and is still

God’s

2 Creation Event God made

creation apart

from any

external help

Creation

continually

remakes itself

God made

creation

apart from

any external

help

3 God’s authority God maintains

full authority and

sovereignty over

creation

Creation governs

itself

People can

manipulate

themselves

in order to

change their

reality


substance types

God and creation

are different

substances

God and creation

are the same

substance

God and

creation are

different

substances,

but God’s

breath

resides in

man

287


nature

All of nature is

fully present but

not identical to

God at all times

God is one with

nature

God is

distinct from

nature, but

may reside in

man through

God’s breath


humanity

God makes

Himself known

to humanity

through His word

and works


mankind; thus,

man becomes

internally aware he

is god

God’s breath

in man

resembles

the doctrine

of God’s

spirit being

in mankind


over history

Mankind and the

Cosmos control

history

Mankind is

sovereign

over himself

8 Immutability of

substance

God does not

change

ontologically

God is in process

of spiritual

evolution

God is the

breath and

can change

and be

manipulated

288

9 Immutability of

knowledge and

decree

God’s

knowledge is

fixed, and His

decree is eternal

God’s knowledge

continuously

increases, and it

does not have a

decree; individuals

have changing

decrees

God as

existent

within

creation

continues to

gain

knowledge

10 Depiction of God God is triune:

three persons in

one essence

God is an

impersonal,

unconscious,

universal mind

force out of which

individual

consciousnesses

evolve

God is triune

but His

breath is

treated as an

impersonal,

unconscious

force that

can be

manipulated


monotheism

Pantheism or

Panentheism

Trinitarian

Monotheism

and lite

panentheism

12 Identity of Jesus Jesus is the only

and unique

ontological Son

Jesus is a human

being who attained

high levels of

Jesus can be

visualized as

whatever

289

of God; He is the

only Christ or

Messiah

divine

consciousness by

being one among

many who gained

Christ

consciousness

you need

him to be;

He is God

and man

13 Uniqueness of the

Christ

Jesus is the only

Christ and has

been for eternity

All people can

attain Christ

consciousness and

become Christs or

anointed

Jesus is the

only Christ

The Nature and Purpose of Humanity

Table 4.11. The Nature and Purpose of Humanity Criteria and Yoga


New Age (Red)

Unique

Heterodoxy

(Yellow)

Orthodoxy

(Green)

Gray (Not

Applicable)

Criterion

Number


Teaching

New Age

Movement

Teaching

Christian

Yoga

1 Anthropology:

substance

Mankind’s nature

is both physical

Mankind, nature,

and god are one

Mankind is

made of

290

and non-physical,

yet distinct from

God and creation

continuous

substance

both

physical and

spiritual

substances

connected

by God’s

breath

2 Anthropology:

creation of mankind

God created and

defined mankind

Mankind creates

and defines itself

God created

mankind,

but Mankind

can modify

itself

3 Anthropology:

mankind’s

relationship to God

Man is made in

the image of God

Mankind is made

from the substance

of god

Mankind is

made in the

image of

God, but the

breath may

be God’s

substance

4 Anthropology:

identity

Christians find

their identity in

Christ through

His indwelling;

The acquisition of

Christ

consciousness

allows one to

One’s

identity is

discovered

as one

291

Christ and

believers remain

distinct

individuals

become one’s true

self

comes more

into union

with oneself

and God

5 Eschatology: now By the power of

the Holy Spirit,

God is creating

the body of Christ

who is being

sanctified to

participate in the

eternal kingdom

Through Christ

consciousness, all

distinctions on

earth are being

erased and conflict

between people is

being eradicated

Union of

body, soul,

and mind

are

occurring in

the present

6 Eschatology: God’s

role

God’s authority

and kingdom are

fully realized

throughout the

new heaven and

new earth

As all distinctions

are erased through

awareness of the

universal mind,

war and conflict

end; creation of a

boundaryless

worldwide country

God’s

breath is the

unifying

force

present in

mankind

7 Eschatology:

humanity’s role

To love God and

love one’s

neighbor

To affirm divine

autonomy of every

individual

To achieve

union of the

292

mind, body,

and spirit


rebellion are

eradicated:

individuality is

maintained

Conflict is

eradicated,

individuality is

blurred, personal

autonomy reigns

supreme

Disease is

eradicated,

peace is

restored,

union with

God is

restored


sanctification

Achieved through

eradication of

distinctions

N/A

Sin and Salvation

Table 4.12. Sin and Salvation Criteria and Yoga


New Age (Red)

Unique

Heterodoxy

(Yellow)

Orthodoxy

(Green)

Gray (Not

Applicable)

Criterion

Number


Teaching

New Age

Movement

Teaching

Christian

Yoga

293

1 Problem with

humanity

Humanity has

sinned against

God and is

separate from God

Ignorance of

divine nature and

true self

Disunity

between

body, mind,

and spirit;

breath is out

of union

2 Consequence of

problem

Spiritual and

physical death;

eternity in hell

Continual

reincarnation

Personal

disfunction

3 Baseline state of

humanity

Unholy, not good,

sinful

Humanity is

essentially good

Humanity is

essentially

good

4 Solution to the

problem: mode

Penal

substitutionary

atonement

Acquisition of

hidden or gnostic

knowledge

Alignment

of mind,

body, and

spirit with

itself and

God;

method is

hidden

knowledge

of Yogis

294

5 Solution to the

problem: means

Faith in Jesus and

His sacrifice

Spiritual

encounters and

religious practices

lead to

enlightened

consciousness

Practice of

Christian

Yoga will

bring union


salvation

Jesus’ atonement

on the cross is

fully sufficient for

salvation; faith is

all that is required

NAM practices

require continual

work and are not


enlightenment

Spiritual

growth is

through

Yoga

practice,

union with

God is

through

Yoga

practice

7 Sanctification:

definition

Process by which

God makes

believers holy in

character and set

apart for Himself

Process by which

adherents become

aware of their

connection to the

Cosmos and

discover their true

self

Has little to

do with

character;

focuses on

unity of self

and ecstatic

295

connection

to God

8 Sanctification: means The Holy Spirit,

through the

regenerate heart

and cooperation of

the believer, purge

sin from his or her

life

Increased

participation in

spiritual practices

causes individuals

to become aware

of their divine

nature

Increased

ability at

Yoga causes

union with

self and

God

9 Destiny of mankind Glorification

through the

general

resurrection (new

physical body),

completion of

sanctification, and

reception of

eternal life

Deification

through becoming

one with the

Cosmos; no

resurrection of the

physical body,

only reincarnation

Yoga is

focused on

making the

body, mind,

and spirit in

union here

and now

10 Eschatological

community

Eternal

community of

morally perfect

beings

Recognition of the

individual as

alone in the

universe

Community

is not

emphasized

296

Spirituality

Table 4.13. Spirituality Criteria and Yoga


New Age (Red)

Unique

Heterodoxy

(Yellow)

Orthodoxy

(Green)

Gray (Not

Applicable)

Criterion

Number

Syncretism

(Green –

Orthodox;

Yellow –

unorthodox;

red – NAM

syncretism)

Criterion

Description

Christian

Teaching

New Age

Movement

Teaching

Christian Yoga

1 Purpose of

Spirituality

Spirituality is

the deepening

of one’s

relationship

with God

through

worship or the

structured and

ordered

To attain

awareness of

one’s own

divinity and

unite one with

the Cosmos

To bring body, mind,

and spirit into union.

To bring one’s whole

being into union with

God

297

expression of

the proper

response of the

people of God

to the revelation

of God in

Christ

2 Focus of

Spirituality

Adoration and

praise for the

triune God of

Christianity

Celebration of

one’s own

divinity and

power

Meditation on the

force within oneself

called the breath of

God

3 Experience of

Spirituality

Transcendent

meeting with

the living God

Engagement

with the part of

self that is

transcendent or

divine

Emotional

engagement with God

through union of

body, mind, and

breath

4 Centrality of

Scripture and

Doctrine

Practice reflects

and

emphasizes,

God and His

work as

revealed in

Scripture

Practice focuses

on the self, self-

divinity, and

obtaining

personal desires

Practices emphasizes

the self, body, breath,

meditation, and

physical/psychological

restoration. Lite

references to Scripture

298

5 Exposure of

False Doctrine

Authentic

spirituality

exposes false

doctrine

Emphasizes the

acceptance of

false doctrine

Contains false

doctrine, does little to

nothing to expose or

rectify

6 Separation of

Theology and

Practice

Scripture

indicates that

pagan religious

practices are

inextricably

linked to

idolatry and

cannot be

separated from

their origins

The New Age

Movement

borrows

practices from a

variety of

religions and

contextualizes

them in a new

theological

setting

Theology and practice

can be separated, yoga

is universal

7 Proper Sacrifice Christ’s

Sacrifice is

sufficient for

sins—People

are living

sacrifices

Material

sacrifice (time,

money, skills,

work) in

exchange for

spiritual growth

or ascension

Proper sacrifice is

proper yoga practice

8 Praising

YHWH

Required Not required Required

299

9 Proper Heart Doing the will

of God,

Having an

upright heart

Openness to all

beliefs and

worldviews

Proper focus on God

and breath control

10 Connecting

with God

Direct

encounter with

God (Prayer,

Word of God,

Holy Spirit)

Indirect

Encounter

(necromancy,

mediumship,

spiritism,

channeling, use

of physical

medium)

Indirect encounter

with the Holy Spirit

through breath-control

or Pranayama

11 Angelic

Encounters

Sent by God Contacted by

man

N/A

12 Purpose of

Angelic

Encounters

Deliver God’s

message,

protection

Reveal new truth

and doctrine,

assist in

ascension of

consciousness

N/A

13 Links to

Idolatry

Prohibited Accepted Many but not all

Christian Yoga

programs utilize

traditional Yoga poses

300

and gestures with their

Hindu names and

meanings intact

14 Use of Magic Prohibited Accepted

(magic, occult,

Gnosticism,

sorcery,

witchcraft,

divination,

fortune telling)

Gnostic-like elements

in knowledge gained

from and through

Yoga; potential for

divination through

breath control

15 Use of Music For

thanksgiving

and praise, with

reverence to

doctrine

For inducing a

state of spiritual

openness

To induce a state of

relaxation and focus

on God

16 Prayer Focused on

who God is and

in line with His

teachings,

cannot be

repetitious

A means of

ascending to a

higher

consciousness,

can be

repetitious

As a means of stilling

the mind and focusing

on God, is repetitious

and based on Yogic

meditation

17 Prophecy In line with

prior revelation,

Can disagree

with prior

N/A

301

requires P-A

Commission, is

true, must

glorify God,

build up the

church, and

assist in the

Great

Commission,

cannot profit

off of it

revelation,

requires spiritual

empowerment,

can focus on

personal growth

and

empowerment,

can profit off of

it

Analysis and Recommendation

The second part of Chapter 4 has focused on the assessment of yoga for Christian use. To

begin this section, the core theological convictions of the Christian versions of yoga were

exposed and compared to Scripture and orthodox doctrine. First, at the core of yoga is the claim

that one can manipulate one’s physical body in order to foster heightened or enlightened spiritual

experiences. The aim of yoga is to achieve mastery over the mind and the breath in order to

prepare oneself for engaging with God through a heightened awareness. Christian versions of

yoga emphasize that through yoga, one can experience spiritual growth through contact with the

Holy Spirit. This is not framed in terms of morality nor study of Scripture; rather, it is purely

experiential. This understanding of spiritual growth through the manipulation of the physical

body runs contrary to the doctrine of sanctification. In Scripture, sanctification is about purging

302

sin from one’s person, dying to the self daily, and primarily concerns obedience to Christ and His

Word. Though the Bible affirms the body as good, the health of the body is not necessary for

sanctification, nor is it a mark of spiritual growth. This is evidenced by the fact that many in

Scripture were willing to undergo severe persecution because of their faith in Christ and suffered

greatly. Ultimately, Christian Yoga takes the focus off of God and His Word and places it on a

works-based formula by which one can improve one’s physical health to get to God.

Second, Christian Yoga redefines what it means to be in union with God or Christ.

Christian Yoga instructors have taken the traditional Hindu understanding of ontological union

with Brahman and syncretized it with the traditional view of union with Christ. In Christian

Yoga, the focus of being in union with God is a metaphysical, esoteric, and mystic immersion in

the Holy Spirit. It is primarily experiential and leads to “Christ-awareness.” Thus, in Christian

Yoga, one’s ability to know God and be in relationship with Him is absolutely and inextricably

tied to whether or not one can practice yoga. Christian Yoga reduces one’s relationship with God

to a mental state or emotional feeling of goodness and love that is as fickle as one’s personal

health. This teaching is contrary to Scripture in that one’s relationship with God is based entirely

on Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and one’s acceptance of Him as Lord and Savior. The

relationship detailed in Scripture is literally one of relationality, not one of emotion or physical

experience. Additionally, union with Christ is also relational. It is not a state of mind or

emotional experience; rather, it is identification with Jesus the Messiah in His death,

resurrection, and life. To mysticize union with Christ denies the foundations of the believer’s

relationship with God and relativizes the gospel into personal feelings based on one’s health.

Third, the most concerning aspect of Christian Yoga, and also the most heavily criticized,

is its insistence that God resides in all people as the mystical, esoteric energy-force called the

303

breath. The practice of breath control, or “pranayama,” is present in all forms of Christian Yoga,

as it is one of the foundational limbs of yoga. Christian yogis tend to view this breath as being

the very presence of God and something that allows people to literally feel God moving and

working within them. Additionally, being a “breath,” it can also be controlled and manipulated,

and one can literally inhale the Holy Spirit. There are numerous serious theological issues with

the aforementioned view. One, this view denies the simplicity of God. By splitting up God into

individual breaths, God is reduced to an energy-force that can be controlled, manipulated, and

compartmentalized. Two, it denies the immutability and sovereignty of God. The breath can

change and be manipulated through the practice of yoga, which allows the Christian to literally

manipulate and change God. Three, the depiction of the breath as residing within individual

people reinvents God in a panentheistic manner: God now resides in the souls of individuals.

Four, this view promotes a type of universalism apart from Christ as one could theoretically do

Christian Yoga to encounter God and restore one’s relationship. Five, this view denies the

traditional view of the sufficiency of Scripture and replaces it with the esoteric ancient wisdom

of yoga as the primary director of one’s understanding of God. In total, the Christian Yoga views

on the breath are dangerous to traditional Christianity, orthodoxy, and salvation.

Fourth, Christian Yoga ties one’s relationship with God to human effort. Christian yogis

look to the Christian mystics’ understanding of spiritual growth as primarily a product of human

effort in order to justify their incorporation of yoga into the Christian life. They argue that yoga

can create new states of consciousness through which one can have a deeper relationship with

God. They also promote the development of unique and individualistic methods through which

one can worship and approach God. This philosophy is essentially a copy of the pagan

polytheistic and New Age forms of understanding worship. It relativizes the Christian

304

understanding of worship and denies that true worshippers must worship God in “spirit and in

truth.”369 Refocusing one’s relationship with God around a physical activity transforms a God-

ordained relationship into one in which God is manipulated through a man-made ritual. This is,

by definition, how the NAM views worship: the use of ritual to control the spiritual realm. Thus,

yoga is an occult practice that should be avoided.

Fifth, all forms of Christian Yoga incorporate the traditional eight arms or limbs of yoga,

which can only be done in a syncretistic manner. These eight limbs are what are traditionally

considered to be the universal aspects of yoga that make it available to all people, religions, and

belief systems. To remove these limbs has been stated to be dangerous and reduces the practice

to something less than authentic yoga. In brief summary, each of the eight limbs will be

presented and their syncretistic elements elucidated with regard to Christianity. One, “Yama,” is

the limb that governs external morality and how people relate to each other and God. Though

there is some overlap between the moral requirements of “Yama” and the Bible, any deviation

from biblical morality results in adding to or taking away from God’s law and is syncretistic.

Two, “Niyama,” is the aspect of yoga that governs internal morality and how one conducts

oneself in worship. This emphasizes mastery over oneself as the proper form of worship in direct

contrast to the biblical portrayal of worship as being a living sacrifice.370 Three, “Asana,” is the

limb of yoga that depicts the physical postures and movements that one goes through as one

practices yoga. These are purposefully designed to prepare the body for separation from the spirit

and to assist one in being able to appropriately control the mind in preparation for an experience

of enlightened consciousness. The “asanas” stand in direct opposition to a relationship with God

369 John 4:23.

370 Romans 12:1.

305

based on grace. Four, “Pranayama,” or breath control, is the limb of yoga that teaches one how

to manipulate and control the cosmic energy-force called the breath in order to gain spiritual

awareness and awakening. Breath control is fundamentally a type of magic ritual in that it is an

attempt to manipulate God through creation and should be avoided at all costs. Five,

“Pratyaharah,” is the limb that teaches that one can have full control of one’s acts and energy as

a method for focusing on God alone. This goal is akin to the Hindu or Buddhist understanding of

emptying oneself so that all one is aware of is God. The core problem with this understanding for

Christians is that it removes the “I/Thou” aspect of the relationship with God and teaches a

subsumed “I=Thou” understanding of how people experience God. Six, “Dharana,” is the limb

that teaches one how to stay focused on a single thing through intense meditation. This limb does

not represent biblical meditation, which looks more like intensive Bible study. Rather, this limb

focuses on a single word or thought and is more of a mental exercise concerned with keeping

that thought in one’s active mind than actually thinking about the topic or idea. Seven,

“Dhyana,” is the limb that teaches occult meditation in which the body is transcended, and the

mind is released. Christian yogis have called this the mystical experience with the Holy Spirit

whereby one is lost in God. This is essentially astral projection and a forced out-of-body

experience and is expressly prohibited by the Bible as occultism. Eight, “samadhi,” is the state

whereby one achieves union with God in the mystical sense. As stated in previous sections, this

form of union denies the relational and identification aspects of union that are depicted in

Scripture. In conclusion, Christian Yoga is unable to extract the Hindu roots and philosophy

from yoga. In all forms, Christian Yoga promotes anti-biblical practices and theology that should

be avoided, or syncretism will become accepted.

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The next part of the section details the negative physical and psychological consequences

of practicing yoga. There is no denying that people experience positive effects from doing yoga;

however, the negative effects cannot be ignored and many of the people that experience these

negative effects did so without accepting the truth about what yoga really is, namely a spiritual

manipulation tool. These negative effects included physiological damage to the body like

hormonal imbalance, pain, and death. Additionally, others reported severe psychological damage

like mental insanity, psychosis, paranoia, and torment. The spiritual effects are also prominent in

the form of demonic possession and torment. Overall, there is no way to know whether one will

encounter these effects or not, and thus, all forms of yoga should be avoided.

The third part of the section on Christian Yoga assesses the top Christian Yoga

organizations and addresses various concerns that they raise in their print materials. One of the

most popular Christian versions of yoga is Brooke Boon’s Holy Yoga®. She attempts to redeem

yoga by removing as much of the Hindu theology as possible and replacing it with an emphasis

on the Bible and God. While she was able to remove many of the direct references to the Hindu

gods, she was unable to remove the underlying philosophy and metaphysical realities of the

practice of yoga, and instead, syncretized them with the Christian understanding of spiritual

growth. For instance, she completely accepts the yogic understanding of anthropology and the

mystical connection between God and man as the primary purpose of yoga. Thus, while Boon

was able to place a Christian veneer on yoga, she was unable to create a fundamentally Christian

experience in yoga practice.

Another well-known Christian Yoga practice is called Christ Centered Yoga® and was

founded by Becky Martin. She does not make any attempt to Christianize the terminology of

yoga, nor does she attempt to remove any of the standard limbs of yoga from her practice.

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Rather, she focuses on Christianization through the use of Bible verses, prayer, and meditation

on God. However, due to her incorporation of the breath into her practice, she heavily

syncretizes with the NAM teaching on God and is unable to keep her brand of Christian Yoga

pure. She also makes one’s relationship with God dependent on being able to do yoga, as she

affirms that it is through yoga that head religion becomes heart religion. In general, there is very

little differentiating her brand of yoga from traditional Hindu Yoga.

Another Christian Yoga organization is Yahweh Yoga®, which is based on the Ashtanga

style of yoga and incorporates all eight limbs. The focus in this version of yoga is on “Whole

Health” and includes physical, emotional, and spiritual benefits. They defend their version of

yoga through eisegetical usage of Scripture and by a faulty understanding of the history of yoga,

denying its origin in Hindu theology. They also argue that yoga can be completely divorced from

Hinduism and utilized in a Christian context by changing the intent and purpose for which one

engages with the practice. This assertion ignores the vast underlying philosophy of yoga and

results in a fully syncretistic version that is presented as Christian.

One of the earliest modern versions of Christian Yoga was developed by Susan

Bordenkircher and is called Outstretched in Worship®. Throughout her literature she

demonstrates a works-based understanding of salvation and spiritual development that

emphasizes the body’s role in being sanctified. She even claims that it is impossible to truly

glorify God and be a representative of Christ if one’s body is not in a healthy state. Her

philosophy is a prime example of elevating the body and its perfection to a place that is

unhealthy for the Christian and is counter to the grace-based understanding of the gospel.

Additionally, promotes the idea that one can come to the best relationship and connection with

God through yoga, as only yoga is truly capable of stilling the body and the mind to such an

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extent that one can hear God. Bordenkircher also holds to the traditional yogic interpretation of

the breath, and thus, is heavily syncretistic with NAM theology on the doctrine of God.

In contrast to the aforementioned yoga programs, there are at least two serious, viable

alternatives to yoga for Christians to engage in that promote health and fitness without resorting

to yogic philosophy. Both of these programs, WholyFit® and PraiseMoves®, show surprising

similarity in their philosophy and will be discussed together in this summary. The creators of

both programs attest that yoga is the primary method through which Hinduism is infiltrating

American Christianity and that yogis are essentially Hindu missionaries. They both maintain that

the yogic understanding of the breath is inherently occult and promotes a false view of God and a

method through which one can manipulate God. They both completely reject yoga and

developed their programs using medical knowledge. In general, both of these programs are

excellent alternatives to yoga and have done Christianity a great service in providing fitness and

health programs to Christians that are not syncretistic with Hinduism or the NAM.

The analysis of Christian Yoga closes with an evaluation of yogic doctrine according to

the criteria established in Chapter 3. Below is summary of the results of that study.

Table 4.14. Summary of Yoga Assessment Criteria


that showed syncretism

29 (48 percent)


that were unorthodox

20 (33 percent)


that were orthodox

4 (7 percent)

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that were irrelevant

7 (12 percent)

Total number of theological topics 60 (100 percent)

In conclusion, Christian Yoga is not able to separate the practice from yoga’s underlying

metaphysical and theological tenets. Christian Yoga is near fully syncretistic with Hindu and

NAM theology. It is especially dangerous to believers as those who have developed Christian

Yoga programs often make use of Scripture, Christian terms, and promises of a better

relationship with God, all of which appeal to the average Christian. As a result of this study, it is

recommended that all churches immediately discontinue any and all affiliation with yoga and

cancel all yoga classes. Additionally, churches should make their congregations aware of the

dangers of yoga and the reality that despite honest attempts, yoga is not compatible with

Christianity. Finally, churches should make their members aware of alternative health and

exercise programs like WholyFit® and PraiseMoves®, so health can be promoted in an orthodox

and gospel-affirming way.

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Chapter 5: Conclusion and Further Considerations

Summary of Study

This study set out to develop a set of criteria by which practices in the church could be

assessed for New Age syncretism and then apply those criteria to the practices of Christian Yoga

and the Christian Enneagram. The first chapter of this study opened by providing a brief

assessment of contemporary American Christianity with special emphasis on its views on

Scripture and spiritual practices. This review uncovered that American Christians are

susceptible—now more than ever—to NAM syncretization due to their inherent distrust of

Church authority, rejection of doctrine, and distaste for Scripture.

Next, this study presented a brief history of the origins of the New Age Movement and

the myriad of ways in which it has attempted to infiltrate mainstream Christianity throughout the

last 60 years. The historical review revealed that the cultural and political milieu of the 1960s

played a substantial role in the development of New Age thought, as well as its quick

propagation. The combination of disease, government failures, immigration, and global and

personal crises gave rise to an entire generation of people who felt as though the world had failed

them. Thus, they were primed for a new path and quickly turned to the spiritual leaders of the

age who promoted a syncretistic hybrid spirituality that promised that the world was on the verge

of a utopian age if they became aware of the divinity within.

Additionally, a specific strand of pseudo-Christianity that developed during the late

1800s was coming back into vogue. “New Thought,” which was originally developed by Phineas

Quimby and popularized in the Christian cult called Christian Science was picked up by many

New Age teachers throughout the 1900s. While it initially focused on healing, New Thought

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developed into a form of American prosperity, whereby whatever one thought about would be

guaranteed to happen as a result of the cosmic forces at play in the fabric of the Cosmos. It

reached a substantial level of popularity through Rhonda Byrne’s book The Secret.

Throughout the 1900s, the New Age Movement has attempted to make major incursions

into the Christian Church. One of the most deceptive ways that the NAM has influenced

Christianity is through supposed spiritual practices. With the influx of Hindu and Buddhist

organizations, Christians found themselves turning to meditation, yoga, and the Enneagram to

meet the spiritual needs they felt their pastors and Bibles were unable to address. This incursion

was made worse by the publication of books by Christian publishers that reinforced these views

and practices as normative. Some of the authors, like Richard Rohr, deny virtually every

traditional doctrine of Christianity in favor of NAM theology, and yet, are still seen as great

spiritual leaders in the Church.1

The Pentecostal and Charismatic Church have been a special target for NAM infiltration

and have had to fend off incursions throughout their short histories. Holiness theology played a

major role in the theological foundation of the Pentecostal church and as a result, there were a

number of doctrines and teachings that reflected New Age thinking being taught by Pentecostal

pastors at the beginning of the movement. One of these syncretistic teachers was Charles

Parham, who claimed there were different tiers of Christians and affirmed experientialism over

Scripture. Another key leader, William Branham denied the sufficiency of Scripture and affirmed

heretical sources of revelation, like the Zodiac, which paved the way for future syncretism as

found in the Word of Faith movement.

1 From earlier sections, this study found that Rohr denies the following: Creator/Creation distinction, original sin, sin

as a moral problem, penal substitutionary atonement or any real atonement, the uniqueness of the Messiah, salvation

by grace through faith (Enneagram required).

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In terms of modern syncretistic movements, this study analyzed the New Apostolic

Reformation and its associated churches and ministries, which include Bethel Redding and the

International House of Prayer. The NAR has been a major influencer in modern Christianity, and

some of the most powerful organizations in the movement have fully embraced New Age

teaching and practices. The worst offender, Bethel Redding, has published a book, The Physics

of Heaven, which recounts how the major leaders at Bethel have fully embraced pseudoscience

and occultism in an effort to garner spiritual experiences and spiritual power.

In the final section of the introduction, the study reviewed a handful of books at the

academic, apologetic, and lay level with the intention of assessing the field of apologetics

addressing New Age syncretism. In the 70s and 80s when the New Age Movement was

organized around a series of high-profile spiritual gurus and organizations, there were a number

of excellent books published that broke down the New Age worldview and warned people about

its attempts to deceive. However, as the NAM became more integrated into society and more

mainstream, few apologists chose to address it during the 90s and early 00s. In recent years, a

number of popular level books have appeared that address the new NAM practices that are

steadily making their way into the church, but as of this writing, there are no books that fully

address NAM syncretism and provide a method for analyzing church practices.

The second chapter of this study presents the methodology that was used throughout the

dissertation. This study utilized the qualitative research design of content analysis to develop the

necessary criteria to assess the practices of yoga and the Enneagram for the purposes of

discovering whether or not they are fit for Christian use. This dissertation utilized a general

orthodox theology for its assessment and did not take doctrinal stances on theological topics that

are generally counted within orthodoxy, so the criteria developed could be utilized across a wide

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variety of denominations. The core limitation of the study is that the NAM and the practices of

yoga and the Enneagram are not uniform and so a subset of the data on all three were utilized

that attempted to capture the essence of NAM theology and the core tenets of yoga and the

Enneagram.

The third chapter focused on the development of the assessment criteria along the line of

five central doctrinal themes. First, criteria related to authentic spirituality were developed. This

study found that there is a strong linkage between proper worship and proper ritual or practice.

The primary reasons for all biblical prohibitions were either that the practice was linked to

idolatry, that it attempted to approach God in a way that denied an aspect of His nature and

character, or that it attempted to manipulate God through creation. The biblical data concerning

authentic spirituality remained consistent between the Old and New Testaments but differed in

terms of the sacrificial system due to the finality of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. In contrast, the

New Age Movement allows virtually any spiritual practice as long as it is seen as beneficial.

The next section examined the differences between Christianity and the NAM in the area

of God and Creation. The Christian understanding of God and Creation is best represented by the

doctrine of classical theism. In this view, God is the unique and only transcendent Creator who

made the universe by the power of his Word. Though all of Creation is present to Him, He

remains ontologically distinct from all of Creation and interacts with it through his Word and his

power. The Bible portrays God as a Trinity of three persons in one essence, as the sovereign

King over all Creation and history, and as the sole savior of mankind. By contrast, the New Age

Movement affirms either pantheism or pantheism whereby God is either identical with Creation

or He is somehow incarnate in Creation. Thus, NAM theology denies the transcendence of God

and every other aspect of classical theism. The god of the NAM is an impersonal force that

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people can manipulate to attain higher levels of enlightenment and eventually recognize their

own divinity.

The third section details the different between Christianity’s and the NAM’s

understanding of sin and salvation. The Bible portrays sin as rebellion against God and the

fundamental reason why mankind is doomed to an eternity in hell and under judgment. Original

sin is the concept that the first sin caused a fundamental shift in the inclination of human nature,

whereby humanity no longer worships God naturally; rather, the inclination of mankind is bent

on itself and is wholly self-serving. Salvation occurs as people accept Jesus Christ as their Lord

and Savior and receive His substitutionary sacrifice on the cross as adequate and sufficient

payment of the penalty that they were due for their sins. The NAM paints a completely different

portrayal of mankind and sin. In NAM theology, sin is ignorance of the truth that individual

people are divine or gods. Humanity is innately good, not evil, and through a lifetime of

transcendent experiences, people can become enlightened to the truth about their own divinity.

This is accomplished through rituals and practices that manipulate the body, mind, or Creation in

an effort to overcome ignorance through esoteric, gnostic knowledge.

The fourth section deals with the doctrines of the nature and purpose of humanity. The

biblical understanding of humanity is as a created being that is made in the image of God.

Humanity was made complete upon its creation, and sin caused a moral degradation that

rendered mankind functionally incapable of fulfilling its calling as God ordained. As mankind

accepts the salvation offered by Jesus Christ, it undergoes a larger process of justification,

sanctification, and glorification. These steps include the pronouncement of saved believers as

being legally justified from all sin debts, the conformation of believers’ wills to the will of Jesus

Christ, and the eventual resurrection of the believer, which includes the reception of a glorified,

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perfect, and eternal body that will never again die. The NAM philosophy of the destiny of

mankind is substantially different. In the New Age Movement, there is no hope of resurrection,

only continual reincarnation. In each lifetime, NAM adherents are attempting to fully actualize

their divinity, at which point they will be able to reshape their own private universe in whatever

way they see fit. If they are unable to reach this omega point in their current life, they are given

infinite chances by the cosmic god-force to be reincarnated and try again.

The fifth and final section of Chapter 3 shows the different between the two

Christianity’s and the NAM’s understanding of revelation. In traditional, protestant Christianity,

revelation is defined as the divine self-disclosure of God. It is recognized that the only absolute

source of this revelation present to Christians today is Scripture. Thus, Scripture is the absolute,

authoritative Word of God that governs everything including all aspects of faith and the church.

The NAM holds to a new consciousness model of revelation. In NAM understanding, revelation

is not propositional; rather, it is completely experiential and equivalent to the realization or

feeling that one has ascended to a higher consciousness and recognized that one is god.

Additionally, the NAM denies the authenticity and validity of Scripture and rejects it as a source

of truth. In NAM theology, there is no such thing as absolute truth as each person perceives the

universe through their own divinity and authority.

Chapter 4 contains the analysis of both the Enneagram and yoga and the application of

the criteria to those practices. At the end of each section is a recommendation for specific actions

that should be taken by the church and individual Christians as a result of the analysis. This

section opens with a discussion of the fundamental tenets of all forms of the Enneagram. For

instance, the Enneagram asserts that humanity is fundamentally good, and sin is essentially

ignorance of one’s True Self. The purpose of the Enneagram is to bring oneself into a

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mental/spiritual position through which one can encounter the True Self via a new consciousness

form of revelation. Enneagram teaches argue that the means of attaining this privileged position

is through the assumption of one’s Holy Idea and Holy Virtue, which allow oneself to overcome

the False Self. Thus, the Enneagram teaches a works-based salvation apart from the atoning work

of Jesus Christ.

The second Enneagram section assesses the content of the Enneagram types to determine

if they depict a biblical view of mankind. The Enneagram types split humanity into two selves:

the True Self and the False Self against the biblical understanding of fallen versus redeemed. The

False Self was not a result of sin or disobedience toward God; instead, the Enneagram teaches

that the False Self is a result of the coping mechanisms children utilize in response to their

Childhood Wound. In order to overcome these wounds and the False Self, the Enneagram resorts

to advice that mirrors Numerology and Astrology in both content and delivery.

The third Enneagram section details some of the teachings and beliefs held by the most

popular and influential Christian Enneagram teachers and advocates. For instance, Richard Rohr

affirms such theology as Christ Consciousness and panentheism. He teaches that God is

incarnate on all of creation and that to recognize the true self is to recognize God within each one

of us. He attempts to defend the use of the Enneagram through poor biblical interpretation and a

fundamental denial of the atonement of Jesus Christ. Christopher Heuertz demonstrates how the

Enneagram requires a theological method driven by experience. He affirms that the Enneagram

is good because it works, and that the theology of the Enneagram is a good corrective for

traditional orthodoxy due to its affirmation of the goodness of mankind rather than man’s

fallenness.

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The fourth and fifth sections of the Enneagram portion present the assessment through

the criteria developed in Chapter 3 and the recommendations for churches and individuals based

on the entire assessment. In general, the Enneagram shares most of its theology with the New

Age Movement and presents its own heterodox teachings concerning Scripture and the ultimate

destiny of mankind. Thus, it is recommended that Christians abstain from any use of the

Enneagram as it is heavily syncretistic with the New Age Movement. Churches should cease

speaking about, talking about, or affirming the Enneagram in their sermons, programs, and

leadership development curriculum, as it ultimately opens the door to a false gospel. Finally,

Christian booksellers should discontinue the publication of all Enneagram books and any books

by authors who associate with the Enneagram.

The next section of Chapter 4 contains the assessment of Christian Yoga and the

possibility of its use in the Church. First, the study assessed the fundamental aspects of yoga that

are present in all versions of yoga, including Christian Yoga. Though yoga is often touted as a

system of exercise that reduces stress and promotes physical health, its actual purpose is to foster

transcendental spiritual experiences. In Christian versions, it fosters the mystical experience of

union with God. This is accomplished through “pranayama,” In Christian versions, the breath

which is present in every person is equated with the Holy Spirit Himself, and by breathing Him

in, one can participate in intense spiritual experiences. Thus, one’s relationship and connection to

God is tied to Christian Yoga and is a product of human effort. The short second section on yoga

demonstrated that one cannot rule out the possibility of experiencing severely detrimental side

effects from participating in yoga, no matter the type one engages with. These side effects can

include paranoia, mental illness, demonic possession, and death.

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The third section on yoga compared the most popular Christian Yoga varieties with two

alternatives to Christian Yoga. All of the Christian Yoga teachers affirmed the presence of God

in the breath, Hinduistic and Buddhist forms of meditation, and unorthodox views of God and

creation. Additionally, all forms of Christian Yoga taught that yoga was the best way to form a

relationship with God. In contrast, the two organizations that promoted yoga alternatives denied

all fundamental tenets of yoga, including the idea that the Holy Spirit is in the breath and that

one can manipulate one’s relationship with God through exercise. Thus, there is a substantial

difference between yoga and standard exercise.

The final two sections on yoga report the assessment of Christian Yoga through the

criteria developed in Chapter 3 and the recommendations for individuals and the church based on

this assessment. Christian Yoga displayed a heavy emphasis on New Age doctrine in the areas of

theology proper, anthropology, and revelation. However, in the area of the nature and purpose of

humanity, Christian Yoga promoted its own brand of heterodox doctrine. Thus, due to the high

degree of syncretism of Christian Yoga with the New Age Movement, and the impossibility of

its separation from traditional yogic philosophy, Christians should discontinue all engagement

with yoga of any kind. Additionally, churches should cease conducting yoga classes and begin

educating their members about the dangers of Christian Yoga.

Future Research Considerations

One result of the creation of the criteria in Chapter 3 is that they can be applied to

virtually any practice that is used by the Church. There are a number of practices that would be

extremely beneficial to assess using these established criteria, such as: New Apostolic

Reformation prophesy, contemplative prayer, Christian Tarot cards, quantum mysticism and

healing, inner healing programs, methodologies for practicing spiritual gifts, and essential oil

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use. A second avenue for further research is that the criteria grids could be expanded to include

syncretism from all worldviews and religions, thus accounting for syncretism of any kind as

opposed to just the NAM. Finally, it might prove fruitful to investigate general Christian

practices like church organization, Christian holidays, and cultural rituals to see if their forms of

syncretism are harmful or neutral.2

Concluding Remarks

Brothers, I tell you this: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and corruption

cannot inherit incorruption. Listen! I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we

will all be changed, in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will

sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible

must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal must be clothed with immortality. When

this corruptible is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal is clothed with immortality, then

the saying that is written will take place: Death has been swallowed up in victory. Death, where

is your victory? Death, where is your sting? Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is

the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!3

2 Mark Forsyth, A Christmas Cornucopia: The Hidden Stories Behind Our Yuletide Traditions (London,

U.K.: Penguin Books, 2016); Joseph F. Kelly, The Origins of Christmas (Collegeville, MI: Liturgical Press, 2014);

Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas (New York City, NY: Random House, 1997); Clifford and Johnson,

Taboo or to Do?: Is Christianity Complementary with Yoga, Martial Arts, Hallowe’en, Mindfulness and Other

Alternative Practices?; Philippe Walter, Christian Mythology: Revelations of Pagan Origins, 2nd ed. (Rochester,

VT: Inner Traditions, 2014). In recent years, there have been a number of substantial publications that discuss the

pagan origins of Christian rituals, organizations, and holidays. Though it would be beyond the scope of the

dissertation to assess these practices, it is highly likely that if put through the aforementioned criteria, the

syncretization inherent cultural practices would be highly variable and largely depend on whether one uses the

practice, like Christmas, to celebrate the Incarnation of Christ or whether one engages in the pagan theological

aspects of Christmas, such as consumerism, Santa Claus, and the celebration of good feelings.


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In the heart of every person is a desire for a better future, a better life, and a better world.

When the Church ceases to connect Scripture and the truth of the gospel to these future realities,

it ceases to be relevant in people’s lives and leads to a scattered flock searching for answers in all

the wrong places. It is my hope that through this study one may see the greatness of Scripture,

the greatness of God, and the greatness of Jesus Christ’s atonement, and come to an

understanding of the true blessings of the gospel. The New Age Movement and its practices, by

comparison, are shallow, empty lies. Christians do not need mystical practices, nor hidden truths

to have a relationship with God. All they need is the true God of the Bible and His promises and

His work. True transformation does not occur through human effort but by the power and

providence of God alone. If one is a Christian, one has everything one needs to experience

perfection, peace, joy, and life eternal in the age to come. May we all praise God for His mercy

and grace, and the power of His Spirit at work in our lives.

321

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